Neo Treasure Island
by Mugiwara Gorillaz
Summary: Young Hogarth Hughes, age 12, finds a map and goes on a voyage to the fabled Treasure Island. But a lot of things will happen on the way. Inspired by AMX's fanfictions. Big thanks to her! Read and review!
1. The Story Begins

_**NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters, still to come.**_

There are nights when the sea is as calm and peaceful as a pond in the wild. Nights when the great merchant ships with their cargoes of jewels and precious metals can expect a smooth ride.

But there was a time when even the calmest night could give way to the unexpected.

Pirates! The enemies of all honest sailors!

And the most feared of all these pirates was the King of the Pirates, Captain Gold Roger! He and his band of renegades would mysteriously swoop in out of nowhere, and then gathering up their spoils...

...vanish. Without a trace.

For 100 years since 2009, stories passed from sailor to sailor of Gold Roger's secret trove, hidden somewhere on Earth (though, for a long time, no one knew where on Earth), stowed with riches beyond imagination!

The Loot of a Thousand Lands!

**Mugiwara Gorillaz proudly presents...**

**NEO TREASURE ISLAND**

There was a young boy named Hogarth Hughes who lived and breathed those stories. Every night, he would drift to sleep with images of galleons, faraway islands, and Roger's gleaming trove dancing through his head.

He was born to a family who just loved the country of Japan, and thus, was born and raised there. He was taught to speak English and Japanese. And the most astonishing thing of all was, he actually invented an amazing vehicle at a young age: the Rocketboard! It was like a surfboard, but propelled by a rocket, so it could fly through the air, as well.

Then one night, it happened.

Hogarth lost his family.

He was taken in by a family the Hughes parents knew quite well; the Kusakabes. The mother's name was Yasuke. She had tuberculosis once, and thus knew what suffering was like, so she was sympathetic with those who were suffering. The father, Tatsuo, was an archaeologist and anthropologist. There were two daughers, the elder being Satsuki, age 11; the younger was Mei, age 4. This family owned a humble inn near a beach.

Unfortunately, for the longest time, Hogarth wouldn't get along with his foster family. Most of the time, when he wasn't helping his family run the inn, he was outside, riding his Rocketboard. It was fitting that he, of all people, could manuever the board like a professional.

Sad thing was, he tended to do the wrong things with it. He would fly into restricted areas, getting him in trouble with the police. One day, in fact, he weaved through an abandoned factory, ignoring the signs that warned passersby to stay out.

As Hogarth rode out of the building, he could hear the all-too-familiar wail of police sirens.

"Oh, great," Hogarth muttered.

_Well, whaddaya think so far? I was inspired by a lot of similar fanfiction on this website and by the movie Treasure Planet, which itself was inspired by the famous novel Treasure Island. See a pattern? Well, anyway, lemme know what you think so far. R&R!_


	2. The Warning

_**NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters, still to come.**_

"Mr. Kusakabe!"

"Yes, yes, I know," Tatsuo answered, "You need a refill on the coffee. Coming right up, Madame Foster!"

It was a busy day at the Kusakabe Inn, and the family had their hands full, even after Mei offered to help. It was breakfast time, and everyone was waiting on Yasuko, Tatsuo, and Satsuki. Mei was in the kitchen, preparing some of the simpler foods and drinks.

Now, for the Kusakabes, it was normal to serve strange guests, like the turtle-like Koopas. The daughters had, after all, encountered a strange creature once...

While Tatsuo was making the coffee, Yasuko walked up to a table surrounded by 3 dinosaurs, known as Yoshis. There was another Yoshi somewhere in the room. "Alright," said Yasuko, naming the foods she placed on the table, "4 dried mangoes, two eggplants, and--" Here, Yasuko smiled as she handed a bowl to the smallest, youngest Yoshi at the table, "--a big bowl of Neon Gummi Worms."

"Wow!" The small reptile cheered, shoving one handful of the candy into its mouth, then another, and then starting to pluck the worms out of the bowl one by one with its long, chameleon-like tongue.

"Enjoy!" Yasuko chuckled as she walked away from the table.

Meanwhile, the older daughter, Satsuki, walked up to a table holding a plate of sliced apple. There was someone sitting at the table, of course, but his face wasn't visible due to the newspaper in front of his face. The hands that held the paper, however, were visible. They were very large and furry. There was also what looked like a fluffy, pink top hat on his head.

"Gomen nasai (I'm very sorry), Chopper-kun," Satsuki apologized to the character, "It's been a crazy day today!"

The character, Chopper, folded the top of the paper down to reveal a strong but furry face with a small, blue nose. Now, Chopper was a reindeer, or caribou, but not an ordinary one. He had eaten a Devil Fruit known as the Hito Hito no Mi, which made him half human. He had three standard transformations. This was his Heavy Point form, which was very muscular.

Despite this form's gruff outward appearance, however, he was kind in every form. "Daijobu (it's OK), Satsuki," Chopper answered. He then put down the paper and went into another form, his Brain Point form. Now this was seen as an inexplicably cute form by many, as it was very juvenile in appearance, in contrast to the mature Heavy Point. Chopper even SOUNDED young in this form! It was his standard form.

Chopper smiled when he saw his order. He loved sweet foods. But before he could take a bite out of one of the slices, he noticed a small, pink Yoshi standing nearby, staring eagerly.

Poor Chopper wasn't too brave, and got a bit uneasy. "H-Hello," he stammered, "...Is there something you want?"

The Yoshi didn't answer, just kept staring. Chopper tried to ignore it and proceed eating, but to no avail. "G-go away," Chopper said. It didn't. "Are you alone?" It didn't answer. "What's wrong? Don't you have any friends--"

But before Chopper could finish, the little dino opened its mouth and lashed out its tongue, grabbing the apple slice that Chopper was holding and frightening the reindeer!

Satsuki watched as the Yoshi scampered away. "They're so cute at that age," she giggled.

"I-I don't know," Chopper stammered, "They kinda scare me." Then he remembered something. "Oh, by the way," he said, "how's Hogarth?"

"Much better," Satsuki sighed, "He's had a few rough spots earlier this year, but I think he's finally starting to turn a corner."

Just then, the door opened, and in the doorway were two police officers, escorting Hogarth. One officer was a yellow-skinned human. He was chubby and had light blue hair. This was Chief Wiggum. The other officer was a robot, obviously built for police work. It was called URL; Uniform Resource Locator.

"Mrs. Kusakabe," said URL, catching the family's attention and causing them to stop what they were doing.

Yasuko dropped the plates she was carrying. "Hogarth!" she exclaimed.

"Uh-oh," Chopper murmured, "Wrong turn."

"Okay, thanks for the lift, guys," Hogarth said, pushing away Wiggum's hand.

"Not so fast!" Wiggum said, grabbing Hogarth's shoulder again.

"We caught your son operating a vehicle in a restricted area," URL explained.

"Moving violation 9-0-4," Wiggum stated, "section 15, paragraph... Uh..."

"6?" Hogarth answered. He had broken this law several times now.

"Thanks," Wiggum said, forgetting for a second that he was on duty.

"No problem," Hogarth muttered.

Yasuko passed a hand over her eyes. "Hogarth..."

"Of course you know, ma'am," said URL, "this constitutes a violation of his probation."

Neither Satsuki nor Tatsuo could find any way to help Hogarth.

"I know," answered Yasuko, "I'm sorry, but, um--"

"Um, excuse me, officers," Chopper said, getting up from his chair and walking over, "My name is Tony Tony Chopper. I'm a doctor. Have you heard of me? ...I thought not." He pulled off his blue backpack and started searching for something. "I have a card in here somewhere--"

"You the family pet?" asked URL.

"No no, he's a friend of Hogarth," Satsuki explained.

"Uh-huh," Wiggum murmured, "Well, son, we're gonna hafta ask you to stand down. This doesn't concern you."

"Um, arigato (thank you), Chopper-kun," said Satsuki, "We'll take it from here."

"Uh... OK..." Chopper said. Then he whispered, "Don't let me do that again, if it's going to turn out like this." He turned away and walked slowly back to his seat, sad that he couldn't help his friend.

"Due to repeated violations of statute 15-C," URL continued to explain, "we've impounded his Rocketboard. Any more slip-ups will result in a one-way ticket to Juvey Hall."

"Kiddie hoosegow," Wiggum said, letting go of Hogarth.

"The slammo," URL said.

"Uh, thanks, officers," Tatsuo said, taking Hogarth aside, "It won't happen again."

"We've seen his type all the time," URL said.

"Wrong choicers," Wiggum said.

"Dead-enders," URL said.

"Losers," Wiggum said.

Hogarth glared at the Police Chief. That "losers" bit was NOT neccessary!

URL knew this, too. He elbowed Wiggum in the stomach.

"Ow! What!?" Wiggum asked.

"I'll tell you outside," URL muttered. He then tipped his helmet to the Kusakabes, then the two cops walked out the door, closing it behind them.

Hogarth avoided everyone's staring. The parents noticed him trying to ignore and looked behind them at the staring customers, who then tried to pretend they saw nothing.

Tatsuo turned to his foster son and sighed, "Hogarth, why do you do those kinds of things? Do you want to go to Juvenile Hall?"

Instead of answering, Hogarth turned around and picked up a used tray to wash it.

"Hogarth?" the father said. Hogarth didn't answer. "Hogarth, look at us."

Yasuko walked over to her son. "Hogarth," she said, "you've gotta understand. We know how you feel about your old family. We miss them, too. But it's hard enough for us to keep this inn alive without you going--"

Hogarth turned to Yasuko. "Mom, it's no big deal!" Hogarth protested, "There was no one around! Those cops just won't get off my-- ...Forget it."

"Mr. Kusakabe! My coffee!"

"I'll be right there, Madame Foster!" Tatsuo answered. He turned to Hogarth. "Son, don't get us wrong. We just don't want to see you lose your future." He, Yasuko, and Satsuki then walked away to do what they were supposed to.

Hogarth carried the tray into the kitchen (where Mei was), muttering, "What future?"

Mei saw Hogarth walking in with that depressed expression. "Aniki (Big brother)?" she asked, "Are you OK?"

"...Yeah," he answered, "I'm fine." But Mei could tell he was not OK. For a long time, she was worried about her brother.

* * *

Later that evening, Hogarth was on the roof, throwing pebbles at the ground below. He heard a conversation from the window next to him. Chopper had visited the family to play with Mei. The 4-year-old just loved riding on Chopper's back in Walk Point (his more reindeer-like form). Now Chopper had stopped playing with Mei (who was sitting nearby), and was sitting at a table across from Satsuki, chatting with her.

"So how do you manage to do it, Satsuki?" Chopper asked, "Running a business while helping your parents raise someone like Hogarth?"

"That's the problem," Satsuki sighed, "My parents are not doing well with him, and neither are me and Mei. Ever since his family went, he's never recovered. And you know how smart he is. After all, he _invented_ the Rocketboard! At the age of 6, no less! But he's failing in school, he's always in trouble, and when we try to talk to him, he's like a stranger to us." The girl sighed. "I don't know what to do, Chopper. We've tried everything--"

But Hogarth never got to hear the rest of that conversation, because suddenly, a small plane (Hogarth guessed this was a private jet) came spiraling towards the beach nearby. **SPLASH!** It landed, and Hogarth ran to the plane.

"Hey, mister!?" he shouted through a window in the side of the plane, "Mister, you're OK in there, right!?"

**BANG!** Hogarth jumped back in surprise, because a red, sweaty hand slammed onto the window. The door opened, and a short old man with short grey hair and a lower lip that looked like it was curled inward fell out, coughing like crazy. A strange chest had fallen out with him...

The old man grabbed Hogarth by the collar and looked him in the eye. "He's comin'" the man wheezed, "Can't you hear him? Laughin' like Satan himself!?" He then let go of Hogarth's collar and crawled over to the chest.

"Uh, hit your head pretty hard there, didn'cha?" Hogarth asked. He could tell the man was a little nuts.

Instead of answering, the old man told Hogarth, "He's after my chest. That frickin' alien and his buncha cutthroats!" He hefted the chest over his shoulder. "But they'll hafta pry it from ol' George Liquor's cold, dead fingers before I--!" But he didn't finish, just fell over, dropping the chest, and started coughing again.

Poor Hogarth couldn't believe what was happening. "Holy-- Here, gimme your arm!" said the boy, picking the old man, George Liquor, up over his shoulders.

"Boy," George sighed as Hogarth walked him over to the inn, "If only there were more kids like you nowadays..."

Hogarth didn't answer, he just muttered, "Mom's gonna love this. How much worse can this get--"

**KER-POW!**

Hogarth looked up. "Oh, yeah," Hogarth sighed, "The old 'How-can-this-get-any-worse' rain gag. Really flippin' funny."

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the inn, Satsuki pulled down the drapes. "Thanks for listening, Chopper-kun," she sighed, "It helps."

Chopper walked over to Satsuki and patted her leg, since he was currently too short to pat her shoulder. "Daijobu," he reassured his friend, "It'll be OK." He then walked toward the door. Mei bid her friend good-bye and told him she looked forward to playing with him again.

Yasuko and Tatsuo were listening to Chopper and Satsuki's conversation from a nearby doorway. The mom sighed and told her husband, "I keep dreaming one day I'll open the door, and there Hogarth will be just the way he was before that day; a smiling, happy little boy holding a new pet and begging me to let him keep it." She smiled at the thought.

Chopper went into his Heavy Point to reach the doorknob, opened the door, and ... jumped back! Because he saw, standing in the doorway, Hogarth carrying a short, sick-looking old man over his shoulders, and carrying a chest in his other hand.

The Kusakabes were equally shocked. "Hogarth Hughes!" Yasuko exclaimed.

"Wait, Mom!" Hogarth said, putting George and the chest on the floor, "He's hurt! Bad!"

Chopper ran over to the old man's aid. George just opened his eyes and pointed at the box. "My chest!" he wheezed.

Hogarth pushed the chest into George's reach. George dialed something into the keypad that served as the lock. "He's coming," George wheezed, pulling a round object covered in cloth to Hogarth, "Can't let 'em find this."

"Who's coming?" Hogarth asked.

George pulled Hogarth over to whisper into his ear.

"The alien..." he whispered.

"Beware ... the alien..."

George choked, then let out his death rattle and fell to the floor. Chopper checked the old man's pulse, then sadly shook his head.

George Liquor was dead.

Just then, the sound of another plane came from outside. A bright light shone through the window. Hogarth rushed over and opened the drapes a crack. Outside, he saw a group of people. It was too dark to tell what they looked like, even with the lightning flashing, but he could see a large silhouette leading the group.

He had a feeling this was trouble.

"C'mon!" he shouted, "We gotta go!" His family followed him up the stairs, with Satsuki scooping Mei up in her arms.

Chopper had the urge to open the door a bit to see who was out there, but before he could reach the doorknob, **BANG!** A piece of the door exploded after the sound of a shotgun!

Chopper panicked and ran after the family in Walk Point. "I'm with Hogarth on this one!" Chopper shouted.

Right when they left, the door burst open and several strange characters flooded in! The leader walked up to George Liquor's dead body, seeing the empty chest nearby...

At the other side of the house, Chopper, now in Heavy Point, opened a window and looked outside and down. Thank God! There was the emergency cart!

The pirates, meanwhile, where turning the room upside down looking for whatever was in the chest! "Where is it!?" some demanded. "It's gotta be here somewhere!" shouted others. Finally, the leader pointed upstairs, and the pirates scrambled up.

Hogarth saw the pirates shadows coming up the stairs. Chopper was on the edge of the window with Satsuki, who was still holding a frightened Mei in her arms.

"Don't worry," Chopper explained, "I know enough physical science for this. On three. One--"

"THREE!" Hogarth shouted, pushing his family and friend out the window and into the cart. He then jumped down himself. The cart was big enough to carry 6 people, but someone needed to get the thing moving. Chopper jumped out of the front seat and scrambled to the reins, going into Walk Point and pulling the cart away from the inn.

The family looked behind them to see their beloved inn burning! Fire was escaping the windows and door! They turned away sadly, wondering how this could happen to them.

Hogarth tried to avoid the depression around him, and turned his attention to the thing George gave him. He unwrapped the cloth and, to his astonishment, he found a silver ball with strange markings on it.

Little did Hogarth know, that little sphere would play an important role in the events to come...

_Now this chapter was LONG! Not at all like my last chapter, huh? Well, lemme know whatcha think! R&R!_


	3. Hogarth's Quest

_**NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters, still to come.**_

"I just spoke with the constabulary," Chopper informed the family, "The pirates fled without a trace."

The family was taking refuge in an old hospital that Chopper used to work at. The hospital was currently empty, and the Kusakabes, Hogarth, and Chopper were in the waiting room.

"I'm sorry, everyone," Chopper said, "The old Kusakabe Inn burned to the ground."

Mei looked up at her sister. "What's gonna happen now, Satsuki?" she asked.

"...I don't know," Satsuki admitted, "I guess we're ... gonna have to stay here for a while."

Hogarth wanted to say something, but he decided to keep his mouth shut. Chopper decided to change the subject. "Well," he said, "that was a lot of trouble to give us over that little ball."

Hogarth then took out the ball.

"I know," Tatsuo said, "I've studied a lot of cultures as an archaeologist and anthropologist, and those markings on it are a mystery to me."

The boy pressed some of the buttons on the ball. Suddenly, the buttons pulled themselves in! His curiosity piqued, he started spinning the top part of the ball, then the right side...

"I can't understand it," Tatsuo continued, "It could take years for me to unlock its-- Hey!"

For suddenly, something strange started happening with the ball. The markings started to glow and suddenly, a graph-like pattern was projected around the group in the shape of a globe, and attached to the walls of holograms were green shapes littered with white words. Hogarth looked around and realized the giant hologram was supposed to look like an inside-out (or rather, outside-in) globe.

Chopper looked around in amazement. "I-It's a map!" he exclaimed, then pointed at a small piece of land off the coast of Asia. "Look! That's us! Japan!" He touched the island, and suddenly, a green line lead to a small, unfamiliar island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Chopper and Hogarth followed the line. "What's this?" Chopper wondered aloud, touching the island. When he did, some text appeared on the island. Hogarth's eyes widened as he read the text.

"'Treasure Island'?"

Chopper's eyes sparkled with amazement. "...Really...?"

"THAT'S TREASURE ISLAND!" Hogarth repeated, wild with excitement.

More text appeared, explaining the legendary island. "Gold Roger's trove?" Chopper asked, "The Loot of a Thousand Lands!? Hogarth, do you know what this means!?"

"It means," Hogarth answered, "that all that treasure's just a boat ride away!"

"And whoever brings it back," Chopper said, "will be a hero! He'll be able to experience--" Then the lights turned back on, startling Chopper.

"Guys, this is it!" Hogarth exclaimed to his family, "This is the answer to all our problems!"

"Wait a minute," Tatsuo protested, "There isn't any way--"

"Don't you remember? All those stories? Don't tell me you never heard them?"

"No, we've heard them," Yasuko answered, "but that's all they were! Stories!"

Hogarth slapped his forehead. These guys weren't getting it. "With that treasure, we could rebuild the inn a hundred times over!"

"But this is-- Oh, my," Yasuko stammered, "Tatsuo, how ridiculous is this?"

Tatsuo tried, but couldn't think of anything. "Uh, um, well-- Chopper?"

"...Um, it's ... totally preposterous," Chopper stammered, "It's dangerous sailing the seas alone."

"Thank you, Chopper," said Tatsuo, "for bringing some sense into this."

"That's why I'm going with you," Chopper said, opening his backpack.

The Kusakabes were bewildered! "Chopper!" they exclaimed.

"Sorry," Chopper said, "I guess Luffy's adventure-searching rubbed off on me!"

Hogarth smiled. It was great that his friend agreed with him!

"Let's see," Chopper said, "I'll use my life savings to pay for the mission! I'll hire a ship, a captain and a crew!"

"You're joking, I hope?" Yasuko asked.

"All my life, I've been waiting to show everyone what I'm made of, and now my chance is here!"

Yasuko sighed and Tatsuo slapped a hand over his eyes. They were losing control.

"Mom? Dad?"

The parents turned to their son, who said, "I know I keep screwing up, and I know ... (sigh) that I let you down. But this is my chance to make it up to you. I'm gonna set things right."

Yasuko and Tatsuo looked at each other. Their son really wanted to help! Chopper whispered, "Um, Mr. and Mrs. Kusakabe? Over here, please." He pulled the two aside. "Your daughter told me," he explained, "you've tried everything. This could be good for Hogarth. After all, there are worse cures than a few character-building months at sea."

Yasuko looked at Chopper suspiciously. "Are you saying this because it's the right thing, or because you really want to go?"

Chopper clapped his hooves together in a begging manner. "I really, really, really, really wanna go." Yasuko turned her head. Chopper gently went into Heavy Point, put a finger under her chin, and turned her head. "AND it's the right thing," he finished.

The parents turned to their son. Yasuko brushed some of Hogarth's hair from his face. "Hogarth... I don't want to lose you. You're my only son."

"And our only brother," Mei added.

Hogarth smiled and tenderly grabbed his mother's hand. "Mom, you won't. I'll make you all proud."

"Yay!" Chopper cheered, "Yosh! We better get ready now! Hogarth, soon we'll be off to the seaport!


	4. The JPH Wonderlust

**_NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters, one of which is introduced in this chapter._**

The next day, Hogarth and Chopper were at the seaport. Hogarth walked out of the shop, trying not to laugh.

"Hogarth!" Chopper shouted from inside the shop, "Wait for me!" Chopper came out, wearing a funny-looking suit! It looked something like an old-fashioned diver's outfit.

"Well, Hogarth," Chopper said, "this should be a good opportunity for us to get to know each other as friends. Robin once told me, "Familiarity breeds contempt." ...What's contempt?"

"Look," Hogarth chuckled, "Let's just find the ship, OK?"

* * *

"Second berth on your right," said a short, red monster called Ickus.

"You can't miss it," said a weird, humanoid monster named Crum.

_Author's note: If you watched "Aah! Real Monsters!", you'd know who these are._

"Thanks," Hogarth said, walking in the direction they pointed him.

Chopper caught up to Hogarth. "It's the suit, isn't it?" he asked, "I never should've listened to those saleswomen. One said it fit, the other said it looked cute, I didn't know what to do! I get so confused!" He bumped into Hogarth, who had stopped walking. Chopper looked up and saw why.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, "Hogarth, this is our ship, the J.P.H. Wonderlust!"

And what a beauty it was! A gigantic Rocket-Port (the future version of a New England Port Ship)! Hogarth looked up in awe. There were many people on board, the ship's hands. Also, there was someone shouting, "Pull those casks forward! Heave together, now!"

Hogarth got on the ship. "How cool is this?" he said, smiling. Then, he bumped into someone.

He turned around and saw a large, chubby man wearing a tri-peak hat, an unbuttoned red vest, and a pair of torn, striped pants.

"Sorry about that," Hogarth apologized, "I didn't--"

But when the man spoke, he knew the man didn't hear a word he said. Y'see, the man wasn't speaking English, but Russian. And he didn't seem too happy.

Chopper caught up again and saw the problem. "I'll handle this," he told Hogarth, and told the man, in Russian, "_Calm down. He didn't try. He's new here._"

The man's face softened. "_Oh!_" he laughed, still in Russian, of course, "_I see! Well, welcome to the ship! I'm Zoffski. Good to meet you!_" He held out his hand. Chopper translated, and Hogarth shook Zoffski's hand. As Zoffski walked away to do his ship duties, Hogarth turned to his friend. "How did you do that?"

"There were three languages on Drum Island," Chopper explained, "English, Japanese, and Russian."

"...Cool."

The two walked over to a large, literally stony-looking character, wearing a grand-looking outfit.

"Good morning, Captain," Chopper greeted the man cheerfully, "How is everything?"

"Shipshape, lad," said the man, "But I'm not the captain. The captain's aloft."

They looked up the mast and were greeted by a very strange sight.

A small (about Hogarth's size), black-and-blue creature with large, pointed ears and long, blond hair was floating just above the topsail. It turned its head and looked down at the newcomers. Its eyes were red, with yellow where white should've been. The creature seemed feminine, somehow. A mischievious smile slithered onto her face, and she actually turned into a group of small orbs! The orbs spiraled down the mast to the deck. The creature reformed there.

Hogarth and Chopper were at a loss for words!

The creature spoke in a strange language, yet, somehow, all in the area could understand what she said. She said to the stone-man, "_Mud, I've checked this dumb ship from stern to stern, and like always..._" Here, the creature floated up to the man, Mud's, rocky face and smiled. "_...it's great. You can't do anything wrong, can you?_"

Mud smiled. "You flatter me, captain," he chuckled, tipping his tri-peaked hat.

Hogarth whispered to Chopper, "That's the captain?" He didn't hear what she called the rock-man.

The captain turned around and the first thing she noticed was Chopper in that odd suit. That crafty smile returned and she floated down to the floor. "_Dr. Chopper, I presume?_" she asked.

Chopper could only stammer. He was still in awe about the captain's earlier actions; the levitation and transformation.

_"Hello!"_ the captain called, tapping on the poor reindeer's helmet, _"Can you hear me?"_

The tapping shook Chopper out of his stupor. "Yes, I can!" Chopper said quickly, "Stop that tapping, please!"

As Chopper tried to pull the helmet off of his head, the captain noticed the cord on his suit's stomach. _"Hey, this suit works a lot better if you plug it in. Like this!"_ She then pulled out the cord, turned Chopper around, and put the cord's "head" into the outlet. Which was on the suit's rear! _"There you go!"_

Chopper was startled! He pulled out the cord. "Thanks," he said, trying to keep his cool, "but I'll plug it in by myself when the time comes."

The captain ignored Chopper and started shaking his hoof. _"I'm Captain Midna,"_ she said, _"I was just confronted by the Japanese Navy. I won't bore you with any details."_ The captain, Midna, then patted Mud's shoulder. _"You already met my first officer, Mud, former Runescape Warrior's Guild Doorman; strong, honest, brave and true."_

"Please, Captain," Mud said.

_"Oh, shut up, Mud,"_ joked Midna, _"You know I don't mean a word of it."_

"Wait a minute," Hogarth said, "She said the big guy's name is Mud?"

"Yeah," Chopper said.

Hogarth tried very hard not to laugh!

"What's so funny?" Chopper asked.

Hogarth waved his hand. "Nothing," he lied. Chopper obviously wasn't familiar with the phrase, "My name is mud."

Chopper turned his attention to the captain. "Um, excuse me," Chopper interjected, "I don't like interrupting, but I haven't introduced Hogarth Hughes. See, Hogarth is the one who found the treasure--"

Midna slapped a small hand over Chopper's muzzle. _"SHH! Chopper!"_ She then glared at some crew members whose attention was caught by the word "treasure". They hesitantly went back to their duties.

Midna let go of Chopper's muzzle. _"I'll talk to you in my Stateroom."_

* * *

_"Look, Chopper,"_ Midna said as she closed the door, _"You shouldn't blab about that map in front of this crew. I don't trust them..."_ She put a clawed finger on the reindeer doctor's sensitive nose. _"...and neither should you!"_

"Why not?" Chopper asked, "Sure, they looked rough, but--"

_"Map,"_ Midna said abruptly.

Chopper was going to say something, but sighed and signaled Hogarth to give Midna the orb.

"Here," Hogarth said, tossing the small, silver globe to the imp.

Midna caught the map and gazed upon it. _"Ee hee hee! Not bad,"_ she snickered. She gave the two a sly look, and started to float again, this time over to a safe. She opened the vault. _"Hogarth,"_ she said, _"from now on, you'll call me 'Captain' or 'Ma'am', OK?"_

Hogarth only let out an annoyed sigh.

_"OK?"_ she repeated, a little louder this time.

"...Yes, ma'am."

_"Thank you."_ The imp closed the safe and turned to the pair. _"Guys, the map should be in there with the weapons when you're not using it, OK?"_ She dropped down to the floor and walked up to Chopper. _"And Chopper, again ... shut up."_

Chopper was starting to get mad. "Captain, listen. I--"

_"Now, let me make this really plain. I ... don't really like this crew YOU hired. They're..."_ She turned to Mud. _"Uh, what'd I say about them, Mud? I said something pretty good this morning."_

"A disgusting bunch of babbling morons, ma'am," Mud answered.

Midna smiled at that past statement. She turned to Chopper. _"Now THAT'S poetry!"_

That did it. Chopper went into Heavy Point, breaking his suit and surprising everyone!

Almost. See, Midna wasn't really surprised; she's seen more surprising things than this before. No, as a matter of fact, she was actually impressed. A strange creature, Midna was...

"OK, look, 'Captain'!" Chopper said angrily, slamming his furry hands on the table, "I--"

Midna floated up to Chopper's face and put her hand on his muzzle, causing the reindeer to stop. _"Doctor, I like chatting as much as the next girl, but I've got a ship to launch, and..."_ She looked down at the broken suit. _"...you've got your outfit to fix."_

She then floated back down into her chair. _"Mud, take these newcomers down to the doctor's office."_ Chopper perked up a bit when he heard this. _"Hogarth's gonna work for the doctor, Jumba."_

"Wha-What?" Hogarth stammered, "The doctor!?"


	5. Dr Jumba Jookiba

**_NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters, one of which was introduced, the other still to come._**

"I don't like her," Chopper muttered as he and Hogarth walked down the stairs to the doctor's office, escorted by Mud. The reindeer was currently in his Brain Point form. "She's mean," he continued, "Doesn't she know who she's working for?"

"I know," Hogarth said, "I mean, it's MY map, and she's got me polishing needles--"

Mud grabbed each boy by the shoulder. "I'll not tolerate a cross word about our captain!" he said angrily, "There's no finer officer in this world."

As the group entered the office, they saw a large, wide figure at the far side of the room. He had dark purple skin and a mostly bald head, save for three long hairs standing on his head. He was singing "100 Bottles of Beer", albeit in a strange language the two never heard before, and in a deep (though not baritone) voice.

**Meegota beestas da reeb o teelah**

**Meegota beestas da reeb**

**Queesta nod, see-patalla**

**Nuveta beestas da reeb o teelah**

**Nuveta beestas da reeb o teelah**

**Nuveta--**

"Dr. Jookiba!" Mud called.

The character, Dr. Jookiba (first name, Jumba, as stated by Midna in the first chapter), perked his head up when he heard Mud. "Oh! First Officer Mud!" Jumba exclaimed in his vague Eastern European accent, turning around to reveal a very odd face; it wasn't dark purple, like most of his body, but light brown. He had a dark purple, koala-like nose, a wide mouth, and oddest of all, he had FOUR eyes! No, he wasn't wearing glasses, literally had two eyes on each side of his head!

"You should have called ahead," said Jumba, "and told me you were bringing such fine, distinguished guests."

"BAKA!" Chopper said suddenly, dancing around with a pleased look on his face, "I DON'T ACCEPT YOUR COMPLIMENTS! KUNURA! KUNURA! KUNURA!"

Jumba and Mud gave Chopper a strange look.

Hogarth didn't pay attention to Chopper. He was staring at Jumba's strange features; the 2 skin colors on the same body (which wasn't SO important), the wide mouth, but most of all, the two sets of eyes! He remembered what George Liquor warned him about.

"An alien!" Hogarth whispered.

Just then, Mud put a hand on Hogarth's shoulder. The boy looked up.

"Is, er... Is your friend all right?" Mud asked, concerning Chopper, who was still dancing.

Hogarth looked at Chopper. "Oh," he chuckled, "he gets that way whenever he's flattered."

Mud arched his eyebrow. "Hmm... Well," he said, turning to the alien, "may I introduce Dr. Chopper, the financieer of our voyage."

Chopper stepped forward. "Hello!"

"Ah, good!" Jumba said, "Someone to help me and my patients!" He leaned forward. "It's not easy being a ship's doctor, you know."

"I know," Chopper replied, "Oh! This is my friend, Hogarth Hughes." He brought Hogarth in front of him.

"Ah, pleased to meet you, Hogarth," said Jumba, holding out a large hand.

Hogarth didn't do anything but glare at the alien doctor.

"Ah, don't be put off by my size," said Jumba, "I'm a doctor. It would be malpractice to hurt my patients. Oh! I've got something for you. Wait here." He turned and grabbed some Tupperware bowls (which were filled with something) from a nearby cot and gave them to the two in front of him. "Pleakley told me to give these to the financieer and his companion."

Hogarth and Chopper took the lids off the bowls to reveal a chunky, brown soup in each bowl. "He calls it Quadralope Soup," Jumba explained.

Chopper tested the soup in his bowl, putting his tongue in the soup. "...It's not bad," Chopper said, smiling a little, "It's pretty tangy, but also kinda strong."

"It's an old family recipe of his," Jumba explained. Suddenly, an eyeball popped out of Chopper's bowl! The reindeer screamed and ran behind Hogarth, dropping the bowl and spilling its contents. "In fact," Jumba chuckled, "that was part of his old family!" The alien then burst out in laughter, scaring Chopper. "Oh," Jumba laughed, "I'm only joking, junior doctor." He picked up the eyeball and popped it into his mouth. "They say laughter is the best medicine." He walked over to Hogarth, who seemed hesitant to eat the soup. "Come, Hogarth, try some."

But Hogarth still didn't eat. Understandably, he didn't trust chunky fluids or odd-colored foods. Just then, he felt the spoon being pulled in the direction to his right! He let go of the spoon and watched it fly into the mouth of a small robot with a large head. It also had big, green, lamp-like eyes, a small antenna on top of its head, and a moronic expression on its face when it closed its mouth.

"Mmm..." the robot murmured, then shouted suddenly, "I LOVE QUADRALOPE SOUP!"

"GIR, you mischeivious prototype!" Jumba exclaimed, "There you are!" The robot, GIR, then opened its mouth again and sucked in the bowl, soup and all. It then patted its tin belly.

**BURP!**

Then, without warning, it ran over to Hogarth and hugged him, surprising the boy! "Wh-Who are you?" Hogarth asked.

"Hmm..." GIR pondered this a minute. "...I don't know!"

"He's ... a GIR," explained Jumba, "I believe it stands for Generic Information Retrieval. I bought him off of two Invaders at a seaport." GIR then ran up to and hugged his master, Jumba. "Heh," the alien chuckled, "He's very social, and followed me wherever I went. He also at least TRIES to befriend other people."

A bell sounded outside. Mud knew what that meant, of course. "We're about to get underway," said Mud, "Would you like to observe the launch, Dr. Chopper?"

Chopper's eyes started to sparkle. "Would I?" Chopper exclaimed, "I'm with you!" He then bolted up the stairs.

Mud went to follow the excitable young doctor. Hogarth was going to, as well, but Mud stopped him. "Young Hughes will stay here, in your charge, Dr. Jookiba."

Jumba spit out the soup he was eating. "Wait a minute, Officer--"

"Captain's orders!" Mud said, "See to it the new doctor's assistant's kept busy."

Both stammered, trying to stop Mud, but he left. The boy and alien sighed.

Jumba looked at his new assistant. "So, the captain put me in charge of you?"

Hogarth simply sighed, "Whatever."

"...Well, she IS in charge," Jumba digressed, "I can't argue with her, unfortunately."

"Yeah..." Hogarth said, picking an apple out of a nearby barrel, "...Y'know, these apples are kinda like the ones back at the inn my family used to work at ... IN JAPAN. Ever been there?"

"Hmm... I don't believe so," the alien doctor answered.

Nuts. That didn't get him. "...Come to think of it," Hogarth continued, taking a bite out of the apple, "just before I left, I met this old guy. He was, uh, looking for an alien buddy."

"Really?" Jumba said, not sounding at all suspicious.

"Yeah. Uh, what was that old coot's name? ...Oh, yeah. Liquor. George Liquor?"

"Liquor?" Jumba asked, "Liquor!? ...What an unfortunate name. Poor man. Well, I don't know anyone by that name. Must've been a different alien. There have been many alien encounters. Some may be happening in the port right now."

A whistle blowed up on deck. The two heard the First Officer's voice shouting, "Prepare to cast off!"

Jumba smiled. "Go now, my boy," he told Hogarth, "Watch the launch."

Hogarth walked out, all right, but he still gave Jumba a suspicious look on the way out.

When the boy left, Jumba looked up the stairs in suspicion. "...We should keep an eye on this one, GIR. It would be impolite to see or hear anything he shouldn't..."


	6. Setting Sail and Randall Boggs

**_NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters, one of which is introduced in this chapter._**

"We're all clear, Captain!" shouted the Lookout, a Koopa known as a Hammer Bro.

_"Well, Mud,"_ said Midna, _"Are we ready to launch this raft?"_

"My pleasure, Captain," Mud said, smiling, then turned to the crew and shouted, "All hands to stations! Smartly now!"

The crew members rushed to their working posts. Hogarth walked up the stairs out of the doctor's office and looked around, curious as to what was going to happen. Several crewmates raced up the shrouds to the masts and grabbed the robes. "Loose all sails!" shouted Mud, and the crew members pulled the ropes, opening the sails. Hogarth watched in awe as the ship started to move a bit, though, to someone his size, it wouldn't have seemed like a bit. "Heave up the braces!" shouted Mud, "Brace up!" Then the sails started to billow. Now, the sails on the Rocket-Port are made to catch the fuel for the rockets, the fuel being sunlight. That's what was happening now, and a large man with metal jaws, named Wapol, was sitting in the boiler room, gripping something that looked like the brake on a train, and watching three almost empty bars...

_"South by southwest, Turnbuckle,"_ ordered Midna, _"heading 2-1-0-0."_

"Aye, Captain," said Mr. Turnbuckle (a tall African-English man, and the helmsman), turning the wheel, "2-1-0-0."

The ship turned, and Midna said, _"Full speed, Mud."_

_Author's note: I'm not sure, but I think those pipes on a ship that you speak into are called "echo tubes"._

Mud commanded into an echo tube leading down to the boiler room, "Take her away!"

Down in the boiler room, Wapol pushed the stick he was holding, and the three bars started to fill!

_"Hold onto something, Chopper,"_ Midna warned, and levitated into the air.

Chopper looked at the imp. "Why?" he asked. He soon found out, because once the three bars in the control room filled, the rockets activated and the ship started to move quickly, causing Chopper to lose his balance and fall on his back. Ouch!

The ship was launched, and Hogarth watched the mainland from the shrouds. It seemed to shrink as they sailed farther and farther away from it. There were seagulls flocking around the ship, screeching and searching for something to eat. Hogarth looked in front of him and his eyes met an amazing sight; the enormous Humpback Whales were swimming next to the ship, and some even jumped out of the water!

Chopper, who was on the side of the ship opposite to Hogarth, was also impressed by the sight. His eyes sparkled! "Wow...! SUGOI!" He took his knapsack off and dug around in it, then pulled out a camera. He poked his head between the railing and brought the camera around through another space between the rails. "Smile!" he called to a whale, putting the camera up to his eye.

Midna saw what Chopper was doing and got a little nervous. _"Uh, Chopper, better get out of the way before--"_

Too late. The whale sneezed, covering poor Chopper in snot! Midna snickered a bit.

"Ah, what a wonderful day for sailing, Captain!"

Midna turned to the source of the voice. Oh. Jumba again. Midna wasn't too fond of her doctor. He was always trying to butter her up. Following him was his other assistant, GIR.

"And look!" Jumba called to the captain, "You look wonderful this morning! Like a black pearl; dark but lovely!"

_"Save your load of crud,"_ Midna replied sharply, _"for those floozies back at seaport."_

Jumba seemed a little disappointed. "What's a floozy?" GIR asked. Instead of answering, Jumba said, "Oh, come, Captain. I speak only the truth."

Midna looked over at the shrouds where Hogarth was. A sly grin appeared. _"Hey, uh, isn't that YOUR new assistant goofing off in those shrouds?"_

"Yes, it-- Oh." Jumba knew what Midna was suggesting now. He clasped his chubby hands together. "A momentary abberation, Captain. Soon to be addressed." He turned to the shrouds. "Hogarth!"

Hogarth turned to the doctor.

"I have two new companions I'd like you to meet," Jumba said.

Hogarth looked around, hopeful.

"Say hello to Mr. Mop and Miss Bucket," the alien laughed, tossing Hogarth the mop and bucket.

Hogarth got the message, and he didn't like it. "Yip-pee..."

* * *

Understandably, Hogarth wasn't too happy about swabbing the deck. He muttered as he worked, "I'll give you a Mr. Mop right up your--" Just then, he got pushed aside by a very large, grey hand. The owner of the hand was a large, grey person wearing nothing but a large pair of black shorts. He was bald, and when he turned around, Hogarth saw that this giant was missing some teeth. He also seemed to be a hunchback. This was El Gigante.

El Gigante growled and continued walking. Hogarth was, needless to say, very frightened by the giant, but he continued working. Then he noticed a strange-looking group whispering to each other. The group consisted of Wapol, Hammer Bro, a large Koopa with a spiked shell (Bowser), and a small Koopa that basically looked like a smaller version of Bowser (Koopa Kid). Hogarth watched the group and stopped working. Wapol noticed Hogarth watching them and signaled them to shut up. They all turned around and stared at Hogarth, who only stared back.

"What are YOU looking at, kid?" Bowser snarled, crossing his scaly arms.

"Yeah," Koopa Kid said, mimicking Bowser, "what are YOU looking at?"

Hogarth rolled his eyes. Koopa Kid was obviously immature.

"Hey!"

Hogarth looked up at the source of the voice. A large, light purple, reptilian character with six legs, a long, snake-like body, and three, pink-tipped fronds on the back of his head, came crawling down the shrouds. His name was Randall Boggs.

"You're the new doctor's assistant, right?" Randall said, "That means you mind your own business, got it?"

Hogarth smirked. "Why, you got something to hide, lizard lips?"

Randall glared at the boy, picked him up by the collar, and pulled him close, hissing, "Well, I guess you're stupid AND hard of hearing."

Hogarth gagged a bit. "Yeah, well, too bad my nose works just fine!"

Now Randall was really ticked! "You little BRAT!" he barked, pinning Hogarth to the mast. The other crew members gathered around, excited by this supposed brawl! Some cheered for Randall, others rooted for Hogarth, trying to encourage the boy to escape the reptile's grasp. "Any last words, kid?" Randall growled, taking out a knife and holding it up to Hogarth's neck.

Suddenly, a plump, dark purple hand grabbed the fronds on Randall's head. It was Jumba! Of course, GIR was right behind him. The doctor was looking at a grasshopper molt in the other hand. "You know, Randall," Jumba said, "when you pull off a grasshopper's antenna, it can still work for a few minutes." Randall gave the doctor a confused look. "Let's see what happens," Jumba continued, "if I pull ... THESE OFF!" And he tugged the reptilian monster's fronds, forcing Randall to let go of Hogarth. Jumba let go of Randall's fronds, and the monster rubbed them in pain.

"What's all this, then?"

It was Mud. He marched down to the scene and glared at everyone. "You know the rules. There'll be no brawling on this ship. Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage." He then leaned in close to Randall's face. "Am I clear, Mr. Boggs?"

Randall scowled at the First Officer, but then he noticed Jumba glaring at HIM. The reptile hesitated, then muttered, "Crystal." Mud then left, with Randall glaring after him.

"Well done, Officer!" Jumba said as everyone else but Hogarth and GIR walked away, "A tight ship is fine for all, sir!" He then picked up the mop that Hogarth dropped and glared at the boy. "Hogarth! I gave you a job."

"Hey," Hogarth protested, "I was doing it until that lizard thing--"

"Nevermind that!" Jumba shouted, then said a little more quietly (though still sternly), "Now, I want this deck swabbed clean, and may He have mercy on you if I come back and it's not done!" He then turned to his robot. "GIR, keep an eye on him, and let me know if there are any more distractions." He then started to storm away.

GIR's eyes then glowed red. "Yes, sir!" he said in a more serious voice. When Jumba was gone, however, the robot's eyes then turned green again, and he said, "I'm gonna go get nachos!" before skampering off to the kitchen.

Hogarth arched his eyebrow as the robot ran off. What a weird robot!


	7. A Mutiny in the Making and Work Coming

**_NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters._**

Down in the doctor's office, most of the crew sat with grim looks on their faces. They knew HE was gonna be ticked at them...

Then Jumba came down, and there was something on his hip that looked like a sheathed machette. He had a suspiciously calm look on his face. "Heh, we are all here?" he asked.

"'Scuse me!" Hammer Bro said as he ran in.

"Good," Jumba said. Then he walked into the middle of the room. "Now, if you'll excuse my ordinary speech, gentlemen, are you all..." He unsheathed the machette! "...IDIOTS!?" The alien swung the blade around, nearly slicing off several crew members' heads! "Do you realize how hard I worked to make us look like an upstanding crew? Do you want to blow the whole mutiny before it's time!?"

"The kid was snooping around," Randall replied.

"You just stick to the plan, you over-sized chameleon!" Jumba snapped, "As for Hogarth, I'll make him so tired he won't be able to think."

* * *

Later that night, Hogarth was still swabbing the deck. GIR was riding a mop this way and that, until he slowed down in front of Hogarth.

Hogarth gave GIR a playful look. "Well, this has been a fun day, huh? Making new friends ... like that lizard maniac!"

"Lizard maniac?" GIR asked, then remembered who Hogarth was talking about. "Oh, you mean THIS guy!" He then projected a hologram from his eyes. It looked like a rather cartoonish version of the monster.

Hogarth chuckled. "A little uglier."

Then zits appeared all over the Randall hologram's body!

"Pretty close," Hogarth laughed.

GIR shrugged, and the hologram disappeared. Then, Jumba came onto the deck, carrying used medical stuff.

"Well," he said, smiling, "thank goodness. You were up here for an hour, and the deck isn't destroyed." He then pressed a button on the back of GIR's head, making the top of his head open, and dumped the medical garbage inside.

"...Look," Hogarth said, "What you did back there..." He smiled. "Thanks."

Jumba closed GIR's head and looked at Hogarth, a bit of a sad curiosity in his eyes. "Did your father not teach you to pick your fights more carefully?"

Hogarth's smile disappeared. His face drifted into anger, and he turned around and continued to mop.

"...You're father is not the teaching sort, is he?" asked Jumba.

"...That's just it," Hogarth replied, leaning over the side of the ship, "I don't know. He and my Mom died before I got to know them. I've got foster parents, but I don't WANT to get to know them."

"Oh..." Jumba said sympathetically, walking up next to Hogarth, "My apologies."

"Heh, no big deal," Hogarth said, "I'm doing fine."

"Really?" the doctor murmured, then turned to look at his assistant. "Well, since the captain put me in charge of you, I'm going to teach you a few skills, whether you like it or not."

"What?" Hogarth asked, a little perturbed.

"From now on, I won't take my eyes off of you."

Now Hogarth was ticked. "You can't--"

"You won't even eat, sleep, or scratch your back without my permission!"

"Don't do me any favors!"

"Oh, don't worry, Hogarth," Jumba told the boy, "I won't!"


	8. I'm Still Here

**_NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters._**

_Now, this is kind of a musical chapter, but the song goes in Hogarth's head, as stated here._

Hogarth worked his butt off for most of the voyage. It wasn't easy being the doctor's assistant. He had many of the jobs a cabin boy did, like scraping barnacles off the underside of the ship, cleaning needles, and swabbing the deck. As he worked, a song went through his head.

**I am a question to the world,**

**not an answer to be heard,**

**or a moment that's held in your arms,**

**and what do you think you'd ever say?**

**I won't listen anyway**

**You don't know me**

**and I'll never be what you want me to be,**

**and what do you think you'd understand?**

**I'm a boy -- No, I'm a man**

**You can't take me and throw me away**

**and how can you learn what's never shown?**

**Yeah, you stand here on your own**

**They don't know me**

**'cause I'm not here,**

**and I want a moment to be real**

**Wanna touch things I don't feel**

**Wanna hold on and feel I belong,**

**and how can the world want me to change?**

**They're the ones that stay the same**

**They don't know me**

**'cause I'm not here**

One night, Hogarth was unable to sleep up on deck, so he went back down into the resting quarters. He found Wapol, Mr. Turnbuckle, Hammer Bro, Salacious B. Crumb (a Kowakian Monkey-Lizard, and the only other alien aboard), Jumba and GIR around a table. Jumba was telling a tall tale, and he was very good at it with GIR's holographic help.

The next day, the whole crew came down with a disease. Hogarth and Jumba were the only ones who weren't ill, and they had to cure the crew members with needles. Or at least Jumba did. Hogarth had to stay downstairs and clean the medical supplies. When Jumba crashed a pile of needles in front of Hogarth and left without a word, Hogarth stared in the direction Jumba went in disbelief, then angrily proceeded to clean the needles, a risky business, of course.

That night, Jumba found Hogarth asleep with a clean needle nearby. He looked up and, to his surprise, he found all the supplies cleaned and placed neatly in their cabinets and things. GIR looked up at Jumba hopefully. The doctor smiled, rubbing the back of his neck, put the needle in its proper place, and placed his doctor's coat on Hogarth's back to keep him warm. Hogarth felt the sudden warmth and opened his eyes a bit to see Jumba's feet walking up the stairs. The doctor's assistant smiled and went back to sleep, thinking Jumba wasn't so bad after all.

The next day, the song continued in his head.

**and you see the things they never see**

**All you wanted, I can be**

**Now you know me, and I'm not afraid,**

**and I wanna tell you who I am**

**Can you help me be a man?**

**They can't break me**

**as long as I know who I am!**

**And I want a moment to be real**

**Wanna touch things I don't feel**

**Wanna hold on and feel I belong,**

**and how can the world want me to change?**

**They're the ones that stay the same**

**They can't see me**

**but I'm still here!**

The following evening, Jumba took Hogarth to the Jet Boat hangar. Now, Jet Boats were basically like speedboats, but you could manuever them on land, too. Jumba was teaching Hogarth to free the Jet Boats in case of an emergency. Hogarth did as Jumba told him for once. Jumba went into the boat and sped away, leaving Hogarth feeling a little sad. He remembered that day...

_Hogarth woke up to the smell of smoke, and found to his horror that his house was on fire! His parents! Where were his parents!? He crawled through the burning house, calling out for them. Finally, he found his parents in their bedroom, but there was a huge wall of fire seperating them! Hogarth's parents shouted to him that it was too late to save them, and told their son to run to the Kusakabe Inn. They could take care of the boy! Hogarth didn't want to, but he did as he was told, and with tears streaming from his eyes, he fled the house to the Kusakabe Inn!_

As Hogarth remembered this, the song continued.

**They can't tell me who to be**

**'cause I'm not what they see**

**Yeah, the world is still sleepin'**

**while I keep on dreamin' for me,**

**and their words are just whispers**

**and lies that I'll never believe!**

Just then, Jumba came back and invited Hogarth to jump into the boat! The boy smiled and accepted the invitation. Jumba then tried to teach Hogarth how to manuever a Jet Boat, but Hogarth already knew! He based the Rocketboard's mechanics on those of this boat's. He pulled a few switches and levers, making the boat speed off and surprising Jumba. As they followed a Blue Whale with the boat (yes, a gigantic Blue Whale!), the song finished up in Hogarth's head.

**And I want a moment to be real**

**Wanna touch things I don't feel**

**Wanna hold on and feel I belong,**

**and how can they say I never change?**

**They're the ones that stay the same**

**I'm the one now,**

**'cause I'm still here!**

**I'm the one son still here**

**I'm still here!**

**I'm still here!**

**I'm still here!**


	9. Hogarth's Plans and I NEED HELP!

**_NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters._**

Hogarth and Jumba got back to the ship and started pulling the ropes to pull up the Jetboat, laughing about the fun they had out on the ocean. GIR was waiting for them in the bay.

"Hogarth," Jumba said, fastening his rope, "if I could manuever a Jetboat like that when I was your age, they'd respect me a lot more, hopefully not calling me an 'idiot scientist'! They'd probably bow." He then plopped down from exhaustion.

"Hail to the chief!" GIR said, saluting the air. He fell head-first into the boat, his flat head keeping him in that position for a few seconds. Soon after, he scrambled up next to Jumba.

"I don't know," Hogarth said, fastening his rope, "They weren't exactly singing my praises when I left home." He sat down and reclined. "But I'm gonna change that."

"Really?" Jumba asked, "How?"

"Ah, I've got some plans. Gonna make people see me a little different."

Jumba's smile faded. "Oh... Sometimes, plans don't work out."

"Not this time, Jumba. I'll make it work out..."

**_BOOM!_**

The ship rocked a bit, sending Hogarth, GIR, and Jumba tumbling out of the boat and into the bay!

"What the?" Jumba exclaimed as he headed towards the door to the deck.

* * *

_Aw, crap! I was planning to have them attacked by an enemy ship in place of a supernova (like in the movie), but I don't know what kind of pirates to put in here. Does anyone have any ideas? Keep in mind, now, that the pirates will be sucked into a whirlpool sometime afterward. Ideas, please!!!_


	10. Enemies and Whirlpools

**_NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters._**

_I'm sorry I made you guys wait so long! I'm too easily distracted..._

"All right, boys! Let's get 'em!" shouted a clown-dressed pirate. He was known infamously as Buggy the Clown, and his crew, the Buggy Pirates, was attacking the J.P.H. Wonderlust!

"Captain!" Hammer Bro shouted from the Crow's Nest, "Enemy approaching!"

Midna and Chopper could both see them. Poor Chopper was scared out of his skin!

Midna kept her head, however, and flew over to the helm, shouting, _"Evasive action, Turnbuckle!"_

"Aye, Cap'n!" Turnbuckle shouted, trying to steer the ship away from the pirates, but to no avail. The pirates got right next to the Wonderlust and boarded!

The Wonderlust's members seemed pleased. They were looking for action, and now was the time!

As the Pirates, including the captain, attacked, so did the Wonderlust's crew, and each one fought differently.

Buggy had eaten the Bara Bara Fruit, which would allow the user's body to not only be immune to cuts, but also to be able to seperate into pieces and move them at will! That was what Buggy was doing! His higher-authority crewmates, Mohji, Cabaji, and Alvida, weren't excluded from the fight.

Mohji and his enormous lion, Richie, fought tooth and claw (of course), with his master riding on top and using his whip on opponents. Cabaji was a swordsman who used many weapons.

Alvida ate the Sube Sube Fruit, not only making her thin, but also allowing her body to be slippery, causing all objects to virtually slide off her body, and thus, protecting her completely. But it only worked if she wasn't ambushed. Anyway, she used her ability to slide around, using her mace to bash opponents.

Of course, the crew of the Wonderlust wasn't defenseless.

Midna fought using many strange abilities, like using her hair -- yes, her HAIR -- to actually suck out pirates' energy!

Mud was made of stone, so all he had to do was punch them. He detested brawling, but right now, he had no choice.

Jumba had a huge plasma cannon, and was shooting pirates left and right.

At one point, some pirates chased Chopper into the doctor's office, but GIR scared the pirates away with a hologram of a monster! Chopper remembered to thank GIR for that.

El Gigante was so large, he only needed to push the enemies off the ship!

Randall fought more methodically. He used his camoflouge ability to sneak up on enemies and crack 'em over the head. He defeated Alvida this way.

Wapol used his Baku Baku Fruit powers; he ate cannonballs, turned his tongue into a cannon (he called this "Baku Baku Shock: Tongue Cannon"), and shot the cannonballs at the enemies.

Bowser had fiery breath and spikes on his shell to boot, not to mention he was heavy and had sharp teeth and claws!

Hammer Bro tossed huge hammers, squashing enemies. Zoffski proved he was good with a pistol. Turnbuckle used a machette, Koopa Kid dropped his special magma orbs on enemies, and Salacious took a more animalistic approach; he jumped on enemies and attempted to bite their eyes out!

Soon enough, Chopper got the courage to fight back himself. He used his Heavy Point, punching enemies with his huge fists, and his Walk Point, kicking and using his antlers.

During the fight, Jumba was getting overwhelmed. Hogarth noticed this, and looked around frantically. Then he found a BB Rifle lying around...

**BANG! BANG!**

He shot metal pellets at the pirates, knocking them out and saving Jumba.

"Thank you, Hogarth," Jumba said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Finally, Wapol shot a cannonball at the Buggy Pirates' ship. That did it. The pirates had to retreat.

"You haven't seen the last of us!" Buggy threatened as he and his ship started sailing away, "Buggy always gets back, sooner or later!"

However, he was proved wrong. He found that they were heading the wrong way, and into something dangerous...

Hammer Bro quickly climbed up to the Crow's Nest and saw where the pirates were headed. Now, he was frightened! "C-Captain! The enemy--!"

Chopper saw what Hammer Bro was scared of.

"They're headed to a-a whirlpool! They're getting sucked in!"

"So are we!" Turnbuckle strained, trying to keep a hold of the helm. But he fell backwards, due to the ship being tilted by the whirlpool's pull.

_"OH, NO YOU DON'T!"_ Midna shouted, grabbing the helm's wheel and straining to steer it away from the whirlpool.

"All hands, fasten your life-lines!" shouted Mud, "And secure all sails! Brace them down, men!"

Everyone rushed to do as they were told. Their lives needed it! By now, Buggy's ship was completely submerged, with some crates spinning around in the whirlpool. The crates were full of small, blue orbs with what looked like clocks on them...

**BOOM!**

A huge wave rocked the ship, surprising everyone on board and knocking them back!

_"What the!?"_ Midna shouted, _"What just happened!?"_

Chopper took some binoculars out of his backpack and looked through them at the crates in the whirlpool. "Th-There are Nuclear Time Bombs in those crates!" Chopper exclaimed, turning to Midna, "We were hit by an underwater explosion! My instinct tells me that there's gonna be another explosion in a few seconds, followed by the biggest one of them all!"

Midna's eyes lit up. She had an idea! _"Chopper, great work! We'll ride that last explosion out of here!"_

"All sails secured, Captain!" Mud shouted.

Midna looked down at the First Officer. _"Great!"_ she answered, _"But we're gonna have to release them again!"_

"...Aye, Captain!" Mud shouted, a little confused. He turned to the crew. "You heard her, men! Unfurl those sails!"

"WHAT!?" the crew members shouted, "But we just finished tying them down! Make up your freakin' minds!" They angrily went back to unfurl the sails.

_"Hogarth!"_ Midna shouted, _"Make sure those life-lines are secured good and tight!"_

"Aye-aye, Cap'n!" Hogarth said, and ran off.

Mud went up to help the crew unfurl the sails. He happened to be standing next to Randall atop the "sail-posts" (which isn't really a good thing)...

Hogarth tugged on each life-line, making sure they were secured. When he got the last one, he shouted, "Life-lines secured, Captain!"

_"Great!"_

**BOOM!**

The second wave knocked Mud off the sail's post. If his life-line wasn't secured, he would've met a fatal end within the whirlpool. He started to climb back up, but someone came out from behind the sails, holding a knife.

Randall!

He was wearing a mischievious grin as he cut Mud's life-line! He had a grudge against the First Officer ever since his would-be scuffle with Hogarth, and now he was getting back at him!

Mud fell, screaming, into the whirlpool, his cries finally getting drowned out by the roar of the swirling water.

"CAPTAIN!" Chopper screamed, "THE LAST EXPLOSION! HERE IT COMES!"

_"Hold on to your life-lines, guys!"_ Midna shouted, _"It's gonna be a bumpy ride!"_

Hogarth, Jumba, and GIR all clung to the mast, Jumba shielding the other two as though to sacrifice himself if the whirlpool demanded either of his friends.

As the ship was sucked in, there was a moment of silence. And then...

**_BOOM!_**

Out flew the ship, crew and all! The J.P.H. Wonderlust had escaped the whirlpool!

Everyone on board cheered, celebrating their safety and the ones responsible for it. Jumba and the others let go of the mast, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, this delight was not to last...


	11. Getting in Too Deep

**_NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters._**

_Well, I may not have done a very good job with Jumba's little speech, so I'm sorry if it doesn't seem very good._

Chopper had fallen under some rope during the final explosion. He got out from under the rope and looked at Midna, his eyes sparkling. "That ... was ... AWESOME!!!" he said, "You thought so quickly! I mean, I wouldn't have thought to--"

_"Oh, shut up, Chopper,"_ Midna said. Chopper's eyes stopped sparkling and his smile disappeared. _"No,"_ Midna continued, _"YOUR quick thinking, and knowledge of Nuclear Time Bombs, helped."_

Chopper went into one of his dancing fits again. "BAKA! Even if you say that, I'm not happy! Kunura! Kunura! Kunura!"

Midna didn't listen. She just went down to the deck, where Hogarth, GIR, and Jumba stood. _"Well, Jumba,"_ she said, _"I've gotta hand it to you. Your assistant, Hogarth, did a great job with those life-lines."_

Jumba smiled, elbowing Hogarth. Hogarth grinned and elbowed the alien doctor back, a little harder. Jumba then pushed his hand on Hogarth's face playfully. Both of them laughed.

"Aw, I'n't that sweet?" GIR said. Yes, it was obvious that Hogarth and Jumba had become good friends.

_"Is everyone still here, Mud?"_ Midna called out. No answer. Where was Mud? _"Mud?"_

Just then, Randall walked up to the impish captain, seeming very depressed and holding a tri-peaked hat. "Uh, sorry to tell you this, ma'am," Randall said, handing Midna the hat, "but, uh... (sigh) Mud's...not here."

Midna's eyes widened, and she looked down at Mud's former hat in disbelief. _"What?"_

"His life-line wasn't secured," Randall sighed.

Everyone looked at Hogarth.

"No, No! I checked 'em all!" Hogarth protested, running over to the mast where the life-lines were tied. But Mud's line was gone. Poor Hogarth was very confused. "I-I did, I... I checked them all. They were secure! I swear!"

Now everyone glared at the boy, including Midna. Chopper noticed this, and quickly shouted, "Wait! It's not important who's fault it is! What matters is..." Here Chopper bowed his head sadly. " What matters now is we have to pay our respects to Mud."

He was right. Everyone bowed their heads as Midna spoke.

_"Mud was a...a great sailor, and an amazing First Officer. Greater than any of us...could ever be. But he knew the risks, the dangers, of the sea, like all of us. We'll keep working."_ And she floated up the stairs to her quarters, as everyone else went back to their posts.

Hogarth looked around at the departing crew. Unable to think what to do, he ran off. Jumba and GIR watched him run, then looked over at Randall. The reptilian monster grinned, hinting that he had something to do with Mud's death. The doctor and robot glared at Mr. Boggs.

"I'll talk to you later," Jumba growled.

* * *

Later, Hogarth was sitting in the shrouds leading up to the Crow's Nest, trying to tie a knot in a rope and looking really ticked. Jumba walked over to where Hogarth was, followed by GIR as usual. The alien looked up at the boy. 

"It wasn't your fault, you know," Jumba said.

Hogarth just sighed and continued what he was doing.

"Well," Jumba continued, trying to cheer Hogarth up, "a great fraction of the crew would be floating in space if you hadn't--"

Hogarth angrily tossed the rope overboard and jumped down onto the deck. "Look, don't you get it?!" He walked up to Jumba to look him in the eyes. "I screwed up!" he continued, "I mean, for two seconds, I thought I could do something right! But-- Agh! Just-- Forget it! Forget it." Hogarth leaned against the mast. He was being hard on himself, and this worried his friends.

Jumba and GIR looked at Hogarth in sympathy. Then, the doctor grabbed his friend's shoulder and turned him to look at him. "Now, you listen to me, Hogarth Hughes. You are a wonderful young human, and you DO have a future, but you must find a path in life and stay on it, no matter what! Nevermind failing! You will still become what you wish to be!"

Jumba then stepped away and sighed, "Myself, I just hope to be there when you have your moment to shine, when everyone is cheering for you, hailing you as a hero. And I will be one of them."

Hogarth was surprised by Jumba's kind words. Jumba was a lot like a father.

Then, something a little unexpected happened. Hogarth leaned into Jumba's stomach and started to sob!

Jumba and GIR were very surprised, though through GIR's eyes, it was a pleasant surprise. Jumba, however, looked around, hoping no one was looking. Nobody. Except for GIR, but he could trust him. The alien doctor put a large hand on his friend's back to comfort him. "Ah, don't worry," he said, "It's all right. It's OK..." Then, he cleared his throat and backed away, straightening himself. "Now," he said, "I had better resume my watch...and you had better get some sleep."

Hogarth walked down to the resting chamber, smiling about what just happened. He was wrong about Jumba being a jerk. He was one of the good ones after all.

Jumba rubbed the back of his head. "I'm getting in too deep, GIR," he lamented, "The next thing you know, they'll say I've gone soft."

GIR hugged his master. "But you ARE soft!" the little robot said sweetly.

Jumba smiled and patted GIR on the head, and they walked away to continue the night-watch.

Suddenly, when they left, a pair of eyes appeared next to the mast. It was Randall, using his camoflouge to eavesdroppe! He slithered down to the sleeping quarters, still invisible to the naked eye, but he chuckled as he went into his hammock.

'Finally, some blackmail!' he thought, grinning as he went to sleep.


	12. Revelation

**_NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters._**

_What took me so long? Two words: Meebo. Chatroom. I got hooked! I met someone, too... Well, nevermind that. Read on, friends, read on!_

The sun slowly beamed into the Resting Quarters through the grate door above. None of the crew members inside woke up, however.

Hogarth was sleeping in the hammock below Zoffski. Not for long, though, because Zoffski's foot subconsciously slipped out of his hammock and dangled in front of Hogarth's face! The boy woke up from the stench, falling out of the hammock. Half-asleep, he put on one of his shoes.

He reached for the other shoe, but suddenly, something on a long, metallic rope grabbed the shoe and pulled it to a space amongst a bunch of crates. Hogarth heard some metallic snickering.

"GIR?" Hogarth asked. He sighed, and stumbled over to the crates. He looked in. "GIR, knock it off. It's too early for this."

But GIR had walked around to the other side, behind Hogarth. He held the shoe like he was readying a battering ram, and...

**KICK!**

Hogarth fell into the middle of the crates with a thud! "Hey! GIR!"

GIR stuck his tongue out at Hogarth, cackled, and ran up the stairs. Hogarth put his shoe on and ran after the little robot to the door to the doctor's office!

GIR had closed the grate door behind him, but when Hogarth got there, GIR opened the door again, holding a water pistol!

**SQUIRT!**

Hogarth wiped the water off his face to find GIR closed the door again! "That's it, you little tin can!" Hogarth laughed, opening the door and running into the room.

The office was empty. Or so it seemed. GIR had to be here somewhere! Hogarth looked around slowly, then walked over to a dark corner. There was a mop and a bucket.

At least, it looked like a bucket.

Hogarth looked a little closer, and... "HA!" he laughed, "Busted!" The bucket was GIR! He had his head exposed and his eyes closed, he was hiding the rest of his body behind the mop, and since the corner was so dark, that covered everything else. Hogarth tackled the prototype, both of them laughing their heads off.

Then they heard something. There were people talking, and... Someone was coming down the stairs!

Hogarth, not knowing what else to do, pulled his friend into a nearby apple barrel. He watched through one of the container's knot-holes, making sure that GIR kept quiet.

Outside, he saw Salacious, El Gigante, and Wapol. They seemed to be complaining to someone, but who? Hogarth couldn't see who they were arguing with.

_"Look,"_ said Salacious, _"All I'm saying is, we're sick of all this waiting! I mean, there's only three of them!"_

El Gigante just grunted in agreement since he had no ability to speak.

"We would LIKE to MOVE!" Wapol snapped.

Suddenly, a plump, oddly-colored hand shook its fist at them. It was Jumba's!

"Do NOT move until we have found the treasure!" he snapped back.

Hogarth stared out of the peephole in disbelief! What were they talking about? What'd they mean, "move"?

Randall snuck up from behind Jumba. "I say we bump 'em all off now." said the reptile, putting a scaly hand on the hilt of his knife.

The doctor grabbed Randall by the neck and looked him in the eye! "I will say what we will do!" he growled, "Disobey my orders again, like that stunt you pulled with Mud, and you will JOIN HIM!" At "join him", Jumba tossed Randall at the barrel Hogarth and GIR were hiding in. Fortunately, they weren't found out...

But Hogarth now had a new question on mind. "That stunt you pulled with Mud"? Did that mean Randall was responsible for Mud's death...?

"You talk big," Randall hissed, getting up off the ground, "but I know something..." As he spoke, he reached into the barrel, missing the two hiding in there. It was searching for an apple, apparently. Thinking quickly, Hogarth held up an apple, which Randall grabbed and pulled out.

"Do you have something to say, Boggs?" Jumba asked.

Randall grinned. "It's that kid," he said, "I think you have a soft spot for him..." He stabbed a rotted part of the apple to get his point across.

Everyone looked at Jumba, their curiosity piqued. The doctor looked around angrily. He was scared, but he was a pretty good actor. "Now mark my words, all of you! I care about only ONE THING: Gold. Roger's. Trove! You think I would risk it all for the sake of some nose-wiping little welp?"

Hogarth was shocked. Jumba was after Gold Roger's Trove? Then he was right about the doctor, after all? This was the same alien that attacked George Liquor and the Inn? But he didn't seem that brutal before. Why not?

"Uh, what was it again?" Randall wondered aloud, "Oh, yeah! 'You are a wonderful young human'!"

"SHUT UP!" Jumba roared, "I simply acted that way so he wouldn't suspect. But I have NOT gone soft."

This was too much for Hogarth to take in. It was true. Jumba was just another pirate, or close enough to one, anyway. No one to be friends with.

"LAND HO!"

Hammer Bro's voice rang from on deck. Everyone rushed up the stairs, including GIR, who jumped out of the barrel, leaving poor Hogarth lost in shock...

* * *

"Hahaha! There it is!" Hammer Bro cackled, pointing ahead excitedly, "Feast your eyes, fellas!" 

Everyone leaned over the side of the ship and looked. Sure enough, there it was: Treasure Island!

The place looked deserted, but that was the wonder of it; the crew members could smell the aromas of adventure and treasure coming off of the island!

Jumba was the most excited! His four eyes widened and he reached down, searching for his quadroculars (four-eyed binoculars). They weren't in his pockets. "Where are my quadroculars?" Jumba muttered.

* * *

Hogarth slowly crawled out of the barrel. He looked around. No one was in the room. He walked up to the stairs, then started to charge up them-- 

He stopped. There was a very surprised Jumba standing at the top of the stairs! He had come looking for his quadroculars.

"Hogarth!" was all that came out of Jumba's mouth. The doctor knew why Hogarth had that frightened look on his face. Hogarth heard everything, and now Jumba knew it.

There was a little silence, then the alien looked around to make sure the captain and Chopper weren't looking. He then started down the stairs towards Hogarth. He chuckled, though inside, of course, he was ticked! "Playing games," Jumba said in a deadly calm tone, "I see?"

"...Yeah," Hogarth said, sensing Jumba's anger, "Yeah, we're playing games."

"Oh, that is a shame," Jumba said, charging his plasma cannon up behind his back, "I was never too good at games... I always hated to lose..."

Hogarth reached behind him, grabbing a convenient wrench that one of the pirates left behind. "Yeah," he said, "me TOO!" With that, he slammed the wrench over Jumba's head! **CLANG!** The doctor stumbled a bit as Hogarth ran up the stairs.

Jumba groggily walked up the stairs and looked from the top of them for Hogarth, only to find that he ran into the captain's quarters to tell Midna. "Oh!" Jumba exclaimed in disgust. He then took out a small whistle and blew.

"CHANGE IN PLAN, GENTLEMEN!" he shouted, pulling out his machette, "WE MOVE **NOW!**"


	13. Protect the Map

**_NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters._**

_CRAAAAP! DeviantArt distracted me! Dang... I'm so sorry... Well, let's just continue with the story, huh?_

_"Pirates on my ship!?"_ Midna growled, opening the cabinet and pulling out pistols and the map, _"I'll make sure they're dead by the end of the day!"_ She tossed a pistol to Chopper, who was clumsy to catch it. _"Ever use these?"_

All Chopper could do was toss the gun to himself hastily. "Uh, uh--"

**_BANG!_**

The clock on the wall was shot off. Midna's eyes widened as she looked at the remains of the clock.

"Uh... N-no...I haven't," Chopper stammered, holding the gun awkwardly.

The impish captain rolled her eyes. GIR, who was also in the room, ran up to the map and looked at his reflection in it. "Oooooh..." GIR said, as though in a trance, "Shiny..."

Hogarth, also in the captain's quarters, heard crackling behind him. The device that locked the door was glowing a bright red and sparks were shooting out of it! The pirates were trying to burn the lock off!

_"Hogarth!"_ Midna shouted. Hogarth turned. _"Make sure this stays safe!"_ She tossed the map to Hogarth...

...only to have it get caught by GIR, whom, everyone knew, was too trusting to protect anything. "Hey, no! GIR!" Hogarth shouted, chasing GIR around the quarters until he finally pulled it out of the little SIR prototype's hands.

As the pirates were attempting to burn the lock off, Jumba was losing patience. Finally, he said, "Oh, this is taking too long!", shoved his comrades aside, and blasted the whole door away with his plasma cannon!

**_BOOOOM!_**

The pirates walked into the room, only to find nobody and a cabinet full of useless items.

Then Jumba noticed the hole in the floor, as did the others.

"Oh, for--" he muttered before shoving one of the pirates down the hole, yelling, "Stop them!"

Hogarth, GIR, Midna, and Chopper (who was in his Walk Point) were running down the hallways until they reached the Jetboat Hangar. They were just outside the door, in the hangar.

Of course, the pirates were in hot pursuit, toting pistols. Midna pushed Chopper away from the door, slammed it shut, and zapped it with Twilight magic to lock it.

_"Into the Jetboats, now!"_ she barked.

The others jumped into one of the boats. Midna pulled a switch to open the hangar door for the boats. The pirates were zapping the edge of the passengers' door, the one that Midna locked. The captain flew into the boat Hogarth, GIR, and Chopper were in, then pulled out her pistol.

Suddenly, GIR snatched the map out of Hogarth's pocket, jumped out of the Jetboat, and scampered off!

"GIR, no!" Hogarth shouted, chasing after the little robot, who was giggling maniacally.

**_BOOOM!_** The pirates blew open the door and started shooting at our heroes. _Note: One of the pirates in this scene is El Gigante._ Chopper ducked as Midna shot back at the pirates.

_"Eat this!"_ Midna shouted at the enemies.

Then something a little unexpected happened: Chopper went into his Heavy Point and shot off the "look-through" part of the periscope, sending it crashing down on the pirates. They screamed as they and the chunk of periscope fell into the sea. **_Splash!_**

Midna looked down at the drowning pirates, impressed with Chopper's unexpected action. She turned to the reindeer doctor. _"Did you actually aim for that?"_ she asked.

Chopper looked at his pistol, bewildered by his own actions. Even proud! "...You know...I actually did!" he exclaimed, smiling.

No time to celebrate, though. More pirates were flooding through the door, shooting! Jumba was with them, and he pulled the switch to close the hangar door, trying to keep the Longboats from escaping.

Midna noticed this. _"Oh, that fat--"_ she muttered, then looked up at the supporting cables.

She had an idea. _"Chopper,"_ she said, _"when I say 'now', shoot out that forward cable! I'll take the back one!"_ Chopper nodded, a stern look on his face.

Meanwhile, Jumba noticed GIR carrying the map and Hogarth in hot pursuit. Jumba needed that map! Quickly, the alien doctor stepped in.

"GIR!" he shouted. GIR turned to his master. "GIR, come!" the alien said, trying to coax the robot and the map over to him.

Hogarth tried to do the same. "GIR?" he said, in a friendlier tone, "GIR, bring it here! GIR, c'mere!"

Poor GIR was getting confused. Who would he go to? He didn't want anyone feeling left out! Unable to think of what else to do, he ducked into a nearby barrel.

Now it had become a race for the map. Jumba, however, was suffering from the massive headache that Hogarth inflicted him with (remember, he slammed a wrench on Jumba's head). The alien pirate captain was about to reach into the barrel to grab GIR and the map, but Hogarth was too quick. He grabbed both out of the barrel, paused for a minute to stare at his former friend, and ran off, with GIR waving goodbye to Jumba.

Jumba raised his plasma cannon to shoot Hogarth, but...he just didn't have the heart. He lowered the weapon with a sigh.

Hogarth had jumped into the Jetboat just in time! _"NOW!"_ Midna shouted, and she and Chopper shot the cables that suspended the boat over the closing hangar door. Fortunately, the boat got through the door safely and landed in the water with a **_SPLASH! _**Midna quickly opened the sail and fired the jets.

As our heroes were speeding through the water, however, Wapol was targeting them, his special Baku Baku Shock: Tongue Cannon loaded with a bomb.

"That's it!" Wapol shouted, "Come to papa!"

Jumba ran over to Wapol, shouting, "Hold your fire! We will lose the map!" But he was too late. The metal-jawed pirate had already fired.

Chopper saw this and shouted, "Captain! Bomb at 12 o'clock!"

Midna tried to steer out of the way, but the bomb still managed to hit the jets. A large splinter of the boat flew out and slashed the imp in the side. A stinging pain shot through her body and she clutched her side.

Now the Jetboat sped onto Treasure Island. Midna managed to steer around most of the trees, but they still crashed into one -- **_CRASH!_** -- and went flying. The skiff's "nose" hit the ground and flipped forward, sending it upside-down with the group inside and finally skidding to a halt.

There was a brief moment of silence before Hogarth lifted the boat and rubbed all his sore areas.

"Oof," Chopper moaned, "That was more fun than I ever wanna have again..."

_"Well,"_ Midna grunted, _"that wasn't exactly one of my sneakier landings, but-- UNH!"_ She fell forward, clutching her bleeding side.

"Captain!" Chopper shouted.

Midna brushed him off. _"Oh, knock it off,"_ she said, _"Just bruised, that's all. I only need some rest. Hogarth..."_ She looked at Chopper, but then squinted, THEN turned to Hogarth. _"The map."_

Hogarth smiled and took the silver orb out of his pocket. But something didn't look right about it...

"Oh, you wanted the map!"

Everyone looked at GIR. "I left that up there." He pointed at the Wonderlust.

Hogarth glared at GIR. "You left what up there?"

"The...mappy...orby thingy..." GIR answered.

"WHAT!?" Hogarth shouted, "Are you SERIOUS!? It's back on the SHIP!?" He started to chase after the robot.

But Midna spotted something. _"Stifle that walking can and get down,"_ she said through gritted teeth, _"We've got company."_

Indeed they did. The pirates were pulling up to the island in another Jetboat.

Hogarth and the others ducked behind their crashed boat. Midna turned to Hogarth. _"We're gonna need a better position."_ She handed Hogarth a BB pistol, which was all she had for the boy. _"Hogarth, scout ahead."_

Hogarth took the gun. "Aye, captain," he said grimly before heading off with GIR.

Midna grunted in pain and fell again, clutching her side. Chopper, who had gone into his Brain Point earlier, caught her.

"Easy!" Chopper cautioned, "Easy." Normally, Chopper would've panicked, but he was trying to be brave this time. "OK, let's have a look at that." He bent over Midna, ready to perform doctoring once again.

_Well, uh, that's all for now. Sorry I kept you guys waiting. Well, read and review, please? I'm begging you._


	14. Ren and Stimpy

**_NOTICE! I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters._**

_Okeydokey, I'm now introducing a pair of characters that I'm sure you'd like! Please enjoy!_

Hogarth and GIR stepped cautiously through the forest. Well, Hogarth did, at least. GIR was walking along, not thinking of any danger. Hogarth had his BB Pistol ready if anyone or anything jumped out to attack.

What neither of them knew was, they were being watched.

Two pairs of eyes stared out at them from the bushes. One pair was pink (had pink irises) and also bloodshot. The other looked more decent; clear, veinless black eyes.

"Ren, look!" the one with the healthy eyes whispered, "Someone's here! We're saved!"

"Quiet, you fool!" hissed the one with the bloodshot eyes, "How do you know we can trust them?"

Hogarth heard the voices; he stopped, and turned.

He saw nothing, save for the foliage, but he had to make sure.

"Whuzzat? Whuzzat?" GIR asked.

He turned to GIR. "Shh. Shhhh."

GIR was silenced, and he watched Hogarth load the BB gun and creep toward the bushes. The boy cautiously looked in...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A fat, red-and-white cat with a bulbous blue nose popped out of the bushes, screaming! Hogarth and GIR screamed, as well! The creature pounced on Hogarth, pinning him down.

"Oh, rapture!" the creature said joyfully, his eyes welling up. To Hogarth, the creature sounded like Larry Fine of the Three Stooges, only sped up. "Someone's finally come to rescue us! I just wanna hug ya an' squeeze ya an' hold ya close ta me!" As the creature said this, it squeezed Hogarth tightly, bawling happily.

"Aww," GIR said, smiling, "It likes you."

"Alright, hold it," Hogarth said, tearing this...thing off. It only jumped back on him. Now Hogarth was getting annoyed. "Would you let go of me!?"

Just then, a small, skinny chihuahua came out of the bushes. It looked at the cat, apparently annoyed.

"You heard the kid, Stimpy!" it barked, "Off!"

The cat, Stimpy, flinched at first, then cautiously climbed down, still alarmed.

"Apologize to the human," said the chihuahua.

Stimpy turned to Hogarth. "I'm sorry."

By now, Hogarth noticed a few more details about Stimpy; he had small, pointed ears, flat, bean-shaped feet, and yellow gloves on its hands. It was also missing a tail.

"That's better," the skinny dog snorted. He then turned to Hogarth. "You'll have to excuse my pal here. He and I have been marooned on this island for a LONG time! Now, don't get me wrong: Solitude's fine--"

"And it's even better when you're with your best friend," Stimpy added.

"Shut up, stupid," the chihuahua said to Stimpy. By now, Hogarth noticed that when it spoke, it sounded like a Mexican Peter Lorre.

He also noticed what an unhealthy-looking creature this thing was. It must have been one of those Asthma-Hound Chihuahuas he heard of. This one had pink, bloodshot eyes, a small, red, pointed nose, and a pink, rat-like tail behind it.

The little dog turned back to Hogarth. "As I was saying, solitude's fine, but for God's sake, after 20 years...YOU GO A LITTLE NUTS!" As it shouted, it spazzed out, its eyes bugging out and everything. It chuckled, then stopped when he saw Hogarth giving him an odd look.

"Uh, sorry," the unhealthy creature said, backing away a bit. It then regained its composure and introduced itself. "I am Ren Hoek. That's HOH-ehk, OK? Not HOHKE. Of course you met my stupid friend, Stimpson J. Cat, or Stimpy, for short. Say hello, eediot."

"Duh, hello, idiot," Stimpy said, cross-eyed and drooling.

GIR giggled. "I like them. They're funny."

Hogarth only smiled and rolled his eyes.

"We used to be navigators on a ship before our crew left us here," the skinny creature, Ren, continued.

Stimpy walked over and held out his hand. "And you are?"

"Hogarth."

"Joy!" Stimpy rejoiced, shaking Hogarth's hand wildly, "What a pleasure to meet you, Hogarth!"

"And I'm GIR!" the little robot chirped.

Ren turned to GIR. "GIR? What kind of name is that?"

GIR thought about this for a moment (as best he could), then shrugged.

There was a short pause before Ren spoke up. "You two have the weirdest names. Where do you come from?"

The boy disregarded what Ren said. "Look," Hogarth said, breaking away from Stimpy's handshake, "I'm kind of in a hurry here. I gotta find a place to hide, 'cause there are pirates coming."

"Pirates!?" Ren echoed. He sounded angry as he continued. "Ohhh, no. Don't get me started on PIRATES! I HATE 'EM!" Ren then stomped over to a nearby tree and leaned against it. "I remember when we were with the Jolly Roger Pirates. Sure, the captain was a great guy, but I never met anyone like that one crewmate of his. Bastard."

Hogarth stopped. Did Ren just say "Jolly Roger Pirates"!?

He turned around. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" he said, "You guys knew Gold Roger!?"

"I think that crew mate of his was jealous of him, personally," Ren continued, "I'm no therapist, but anyway, I--" Ren stopped, then looked at Hogarth, seeming a bit ashamed. "I'm rambling again, aren't I?"

"But that means..." Hogarth thought for a minute, then his eyes lit up, and he turned to the former navigators. "Wait, then you guys gotta know about the treasure?"

Ren and Stimpy exchanged glances, then looked at Hogarth and both asked, "Treasure?"

"Yeah, Roger's trove?" Hogarth inquired, "The Loot of a Thousand Lands?" GIR tried to illustrate by projecting a hologram of a treasure chest opening up, revealing golden coin upon golden coin.

"Oh!" Ren and Stimpy said together. Then Ren got up. "Well, uh, it's a little fuzzy, man. We've been stranded here for 20 years, remember?"

Stimpy's eyes suddenly shot open! "Wait!" he said, "I...I think I remember!" The fat feline clutched his skull. "It's there, it's there! I--"

"TREASURE!" Ren shouted suddenly, making everyone jump! "Lots of treasure! Buried in the--" He clutched his head. "The-- The--"

"The center of the machine!" Stimpy shouted.

"Yeah, yeah!" Ren said excitedly.

"And, and there was this big door, remember, Ren?"

"Yeah, yeah! Opening and closing and OPENING AND CLOSING! ...And..."

"And someone in the crew wanted the treasure for himself!"

"Yeah! He wanted to make sure no one could get to the treasure, not even the Pirate King, so he forced us to help him..."

"What, Ren? Help him what!?"

"...AAAAGGGHHHH! I DON'T REMEMBER! I CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING!" Finally, Ren started banging his head against the tree, very violently. "C'MON! WHAT WAS IT!? WHAT WAS IT!? WHAT WAS IT!?"

Now everyone was concerned. "Ren?" Hogarth said, "Ren!" He then slapped the dog across the face.

Ren stood up straight, then slumped over. "Whew... Thanks, man...I needed that."

"Wait, wait!" Hogarth exclaimed, "What about the treasure?"

"Huh?"

"Something about the, the center of the machine, or..."

"Uh, sorry, man," Ren explained, "Our memories aren't what they used to be. I, uh, lost my mind. Ha ha, I've lost my mind!

"You haven't found it, have you?" He asked, searching Hogarth's clothes.

"Uh...?" Hogarth had no idea what Ren was talking about.

"Our ship's log!" Stimpy answered happily, "Maybe it'll help us remember where the treasure is."

The boy sighed. "Look, Ren, Stimpy," he said, "We REALLY need a place to hide, OK? So we're just gonna be, y'know, moving on." He then started to walk away.

Ren and Stimpy seemed a bit dismayed. Well, alright, VERY dismayed. "Oh, uh..." Ren stammered, "So, I guess...this is goodbye, huh?"

"NO!" Stimpy bawled, "NOT AGAIN!" He then continued to sob. Ren tried to comfort his friend by patting him on the back.

"Uh, sorry we're so, um...off," Ren apologized, "Um, go ahead, and, uh... We do understand. We do. Goodbye." He then turned to his bawling pal.

Hogarth turned and looked sympathetically at the two. GIR gave Hogarth a pleading look, begging to let them come along.

The human sighed. "Look, if you guys are coming with, you're gonna have to stop talking."

Stimpy stopped crying and he and Ren looked at Hogarth wide-eyed. They then screamed with delight! The fat cat pounced on Hogarth, hugging him tightly again.

"Happy happy happy! Joy joy joy!" Stimpy exclaimed happily. But then he saw that Hogarth was annoyed. The cat smiled nervously and sealed his lips, like a Zip-Lock.

"And you have to _stop touching me!_" Hogarth said.

"Oh, OK!" Stimpy said, jumping off of Hogarth.

"Touching and talking not allowed," Ren said to Stimpy, "Got that, stupid?" But Stimpy seemed to have his legs crossed. He also seemed nervous.

"What's the matter with you?" Ren asked.

Stimpy looked around, then whispered, "I gotta go potty."

Ren's eyes widened. "Oh, God!" He then turned to Hogarth. "Hey, kid, before we go out on our big 'search', y'think we could make a quick pit stop at our place?" He then brushed aside some foliage to reveal a huge tree with a hole in it. "It's, uh, kind of urgent," Ren continued, nodding his head toward Stimpy.

Hogarth and GIR stared at Ren and Stimpy's place.

"Guys," Hogarth said, chuckling a little, "I think you just solved our problem!"


	15. Bargaining for the Map

**_NOTICE!_I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters.**

It was now the afternoon. By now, Hogarth and the other escapees found out about Ren and Stimpy'shideout. As Ren led Hogarth, GIR, and Chopper (who was carrying a still wounded Midna) inside, the castaways couldn't help but look around with wide eyes.

Things were scattered all over the inside of this hideout; clothes, medical supplies, etc. Also, the place had a horrible smell hanging in the air. This smell was, I'm sorry to say, coming from the back, where there was a small hill of used cat litter.

"Uh, sorry about the **mess**, people," Ren apologized, "You'd think during our...**hiatus** from the world, we'd have **dusted** a lil' more, among **other**things, but, y'know, when you're **batching**it, you tend to let things go." A pile of kitty litter hit the side of Ren's head. "...And the fact that **Stimpy** makes a **LOUSY HOST** doesn't **help**!" he snarled.

Stimpy looked up from his "work". "Hm?" he asked, before noticing Chopper coming in, carrying Midna in his arms. A warm, goofy smile oozed onto the cat's face. "Aww..." he cooed, "Look, Ren! Isn't that cute?"

Ren saw and smiled a little, his eyelids lowering a little. Then his eyes widened when he remembered something. He ran back behind a white hanging sheet and came out with some cups of some frothy green substance.

"How about **drinks** for the **young couple**, huh?" Ren said, grinning mischievously and offering the "drinks" to Chopper and Midna.

Chopper blushed. "Um, n-no thank you," he answered politely, "we don't **drink**, and we're not a (gulp) **couple**."

Midna nodded, an amused smile on her face. _"I'm gonna be honest, he's not really my type."_

Chopper cleared his throat and decided to change the subject. He looked up and noticed something odd about the walls and ceiling. "Hey, look!" he pointed out, "There are **markings** on the **ceiling** that look like the ones on the **map**! **Robin** once told me that when two objects have similar **markings** like this, they **likely** come from the same **source**, like an **ancient culture**."

Hogarth looked up. Chopper was right; there were indeed markings that were identical to those on the map.

"_Hogarth,_" Midna grunted, catching Hogarth's attention, "_Stop **anyone** who tries to approach, OK?_" She then doubled over and groaned in pain.

"Yes, now listen to **me**," Chopper instructed, "stop giving **orders** for a while, and lie **still**."

Midna gave Chopper an impressed look. "_Forceful,_" she commented, grinning, "_Go ahead, say something else._"

Chopper blushed again, but before he could start performing one of his trademark dances, Stimpy shouted from the door-hole, "Hey, **look**! More of your **friends** are here!"

Poor Stimpy didn't realize it, but their "friends" were actually the pirates they were hiding from. He shouted to the cutthroats, "HEY, FELLAS! OVER **HERE**!"

Gunshots were heard, and Stimpy started dodging bullets. Hogarth and Ren grabbed him and pulled him back into the tree.

"You **stupid**feline!" Ren snarled, "There's a **reason** the captain said, **'Stop anyone who tries to approach!**'"

As Ren scolded his friend, Hogarth shot back at the pirates with his BB gun.

"**Stop wasting your fire**!" Jumba ordered.

The gunfire ceased. "**Hello up there**!" Jumba called.

Hogarth cautiously peered out of the hiding place, BB gun ready.

"Hogarth?" In place of trigger-happy pirates was Jumba, waving a white flag. He had a large ice bag on his head. "If, er, if it's all right with the **captain**, I'd like a **short**word with you." Of course, Hogarth was unsure. "No tricks," Jumba continued, "Just a small **palaver**."

Still unsure, the boy turned to Midna and Chopper. "Uh, I'm open to suggestions, guys."

"_He just wants the **map**, I **know** it,_" Midna muttered, "_Overgrown-- **Ugh**!_" She doubled over in pain again.

"**Captain**..." Chopper warned.

Hogarth's face lit up. "That means...that **he** thinks **we** still have it." The gears in Hogarth's head started turning...

* * *

A short moment later, Hogarth walked out into the opening over to Jumba. GIR sped out with the boy and hugged Jumba's bloated belly.

"Ah, GIR!" Jumba exclaimed happily, "I **wondered** where you ran off to." Then he winced and clutched his head. "Ow, ooh..." He looked up at Hogarth. "My poor **head** has been burning like the **sun** since that **play fight** we had in my office." He smiled at Hogarth, but it was only met with a cold glare.

Jumba's smile faded and he looked down in shame. "Whatever you **heard**back there," Jumba explained somberly, "at least the part concerning **you**, I meant not a word of it." Hogarth's glare didn't disperse. Jumba pointed at the crevice where the other pirates were. "Had that **bloodthirsty group** thought I'd gone **soft**, they'd have gutted us **both**!" For emphasis, he scraped his fingers across his belly in a "tearing-open" manner.

Hogarth wasn't buying it.

Jumba then glanced at the crevice, then whispered to Hogarth, "Listen to me. If we play our cards right, we can **both** walk away from this **rich as kings**!"

Hogarth seemed interested now. "Yeah?"

Jumba chuckled. "**You** get **me** that map, and, uh..." He looked around again, then leaned in. "...an **even portion** of the treasure is **yours**!" He chuckled again and held out a pudgy hand to shake.

Hogarth looked at the alien's hand, then at its master, then looked down and sighed. "Boy," he muttered, glaring at Jumba again, "you are really **something**." He started circling Jumba, who started getting a bit uneasy. This was Hogarth's plan. "All that talk of finding a **path **in life, 'Never mind **failing**'... What a **joke**."

Needless to say, Jumba was taken aback. "N-Now just **wait** a minute, Hogarth--"

"I mean," Hogarth interrupted, "at least you taught me **one** thing. 'Stick to it,' right? Well, **that's** just what I'm gonna **do**." Here Hogarth stopped in front of Jumba. "I'm gonna make sure that you never see one **doubloon** of **MY** treasure!"

"**WHAT!?** Fate **owes **me that treasure!" Jumba exclaimed.

"Well, try to **find** it without **my** map!"

Now it was Jumba's turn to glare. "Oh, you **still** don't know how to pick your **fights**, **do** you?" Here, he got up, not shifting his glare. GIR started to get uneasy, looking back and forth worriedly at the two. "Now, mark my **words**; either **I** get that **map** by **dawn tomorrow**, or so help me..." He pointed at the ship. "...**I'll use the ships cannons to blast you ALL to Kingdom COME!**" Here, Jumba started to storm away.

But GIR didn't move.

Jumba looked back at the little robot. "GIR, come."

Still no movement.

**"NOW!"** Jumba barked.

GIR screamed in fear and hid behind the glaring Hogarth.

Jumba hesitated for a second before turning away. "Drat!" he muttered, heading angrily to his crew.

Hogarth stood, watching Jumba for two seconds, then turned and walked back to the tree with GIR.

As the alien pirate walked away with his crew, he paused for a moment, looking back at Hogarth, GIR, and the tree where the others were. He seemed disappointed that GIR, his longtime companion, didn't go with.

He sighed and kept walking, thoughts of Gold Roger's trove driving him on.


	16. Sneaking Back on the Ship

**_NOTICE! _I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters.**

_...Uh... Hello? Is anyone reading this? If you are, please tell me, 'cause I'm starting to lose interest in making this story. I might stop._

That night, Hogarth and the other castaways were still in Ren and Stimpy's tree. Hogarth was trying to think of a plan, while Chopper was doing his best to aid Midna.

The Twilit imp was not in good condition. Her wound hadn't healed yet, and to make matters worse, she seemed to be getting delirious.

_"G-Guys..."_ she now mumbled, _"We need to stay together and...and..."_ Just then, she let out a pained sigh.

This was too much for the child-minded Chopper. "And **what?**" he asked in a panic, "**WHAT!?** We need to stay together and **WHAT!?"** Now the human-reindeer doctor looked his captain square in the eyes.

Midna grinned a little. _"Heh... Cute eyes, doc,"_ she said before closing her eyes, still smiling.

Needless to say, this confused Chopper. **"What!?"**

"Aw, **cripes!**" Ren spat, slapping a paw over his eyes, "She's **lost** it."

"**WHAT!?"** Chopper exclaimed,** "No!"**

"Well, ya gotta help her!" Hogarth said.

"But I'm not **that** kind of doctor!" Chopper said, his voice breaking. Then he collapsed on the floor, tears flowing out of his eyes, and he cried softly, "I've failed you, Doctor Hiruluk..."

Stimpy gave the little reindeer a sympathetic look before walking over, picking him up and patting his back. "**C'mon,** now," the cat said gently, "you haven't **failed** anyone! She's still **alive,** right?"

Chopper paused, then nodded slowly.

Stimpy smiled. "Besides, Hogarth knows **exactly** how to get out of this. I can **tell** he has that kind of **knowledge** of things."

Ren watched the two of them with GIR, who also gave Chopper a sad look. The two walked over to Hogarth, who was looking out of the large hole in the tree, and Ren whispered, "Kid, any thoughts at all?"

Hogarth paused and looked out at the vast landscape, draped in silver moonlight. He watched at the J.P.H. Wonderlust, anchored a good distance away from Treasure Island.

"Without the **map,** we're **dead,**" he murmured, then shifted his gaze to a small yellow glow, where the pirates had set up camp. "If we try to **leave,** we're **dead.**" He turned away and back to their hideout. "If we stay **here**..."

"We're **dead!**" GIR chirped, apparently not knowing what 'dead' meant, "We're **dead** we're **dead** we're **dead!**"

Hogarth glared at the little robot, reminding him how dire the situation was. "Oh..." GIR murmured sadly.

The boy turned around and shook his head. He had lost all hope.

Stimpy looked at Hogarth, then at Ren and GIR, then Hogarth again. The fat cat was getting uneasy. "Duh, hey, Ren?" he asked his pal, "Don't you think Hogarth needs a little **quiet** time?"

Ren looked back at Stimpy, then at Hogarth. "...Yeah, I think he does, heh... Better slip out the **back door.**"

Hogarth looked up, then turned around. "Back door?"

"Oh, yeah," Ren answered as he and Stimpy pushed on a large moss-covered dome in the middle of the room. The dome turned out to be a giant orb that turned in a socket. Soon, a circle of light shone on the cat and chihuahua's faces, making them squint. They kept pushing until the light shone on the ceiling of the room. Intrigued, Hogarth ran over to investigate.

"You know," Stimpy explained, not really paying attention, "we get a delightful **breeze** through here, which **I** think is **important,** because among **friends,** **ventilation**--"

Hogarth peered into the light and found something mind-blowing: a thousand or so miles of machinery underground! Walkways, gears, shafts, you name it, it was in there!

Hogarth stared in awe. "Whoa... What is all this stuff?"

"You mean the miles and miles of **machinery** that run through the entire **course** of the inside of this **island**?" Ren asked. Then he and Stimpy answered together, **"Not a clue!"**

Hogarth turned to Chopper and Midna excitedly. "Hey, **Chopper! Chopper!** I think I found a way **outta** here!"

"Hogarth, **wait!**" the young doctor objected, "The captain **ordered** us to stay--"

"I'll be **back!**" Hogarth said before jumping through the "back-door".

Ren and Stimpy ecstatically watched him jump in, then gave each other excited grins. Ren pounced in first, whooping like an Indian. Stimpy followed him, jumping up when he reached the hole, grabbing his feet, and shouting **"Cannonbaaaaall!"** as he fell.

**"WAIT FOR ME!"** GIR shouted wildly, giggling as he jumped in.

"...Not good..." Chopper mumbled.

* * *

It took a few minutes, but Hogarth's group managed to find a dome door that lead right to the pirates' camp. Hogarth, Ren, and GIR quietly popped their heads out of the door and found the pirates, including Jumba, around a fire they made on the shore (away from the water, of course), snoozing in or on whatever they could.

Something was bothering Hogarth, however: Where was Randall...?

**"SO WHAT'S THE PLAN!?"** Stimpy had popped up and suddenly asked this, rather loudly.

Ren angrily pulled Stimpy's lips together to shut him up. "Shut **up**, stupid!" he hissed. Everyone looked at the pirates nervously.

Fortunately, nobody had woken up. They were all still sleeping, not to mention snoring loudly!

Hogarth turned to his partners. "OK, here it is," he whispered, "We sneak **back** to the Wonderlust, disable the **cannons**, make sure **Wapol** can't use the remaining **cannonballs**, and bring back the **map**."

"That's a **good** plan," Stimpy breathed, "I **like** that plan."

"There's just **one** problem," Ren murmured, a dismayed look on his face, "How do we **get** there?"

This discouraged Stimpy and GIR, too, until Hogarth answered.

"On **that**," he said, pointing at a nearby Jetboat.

* * *

As quietly as they could, they unfurled the sails on the boat, allowing it to cruise silently up to the Wonderlust.

Hogarth's party climbed up the anchor's chains, and when they reached the top, they cautiously peered over the rim. Not a soul was on deck, thankfully. So they climbed as stealthily as they could onto the ship...

**"ACK!"** Ren cried out as he lost his footing and landed on the deck with a loud **THUD!**

"**Ren!"** Hogarth hissed, "Shh!"

"Sorry, sorry. Sorry..."

The group made their way down a flight of stairs, into a red-lit hallway filled with mechanical devices.

"OK," Hogarth whispered, "I'll get the map. Stimpy, you wait here--"

"**Roger,** Hogarth," the dumb cat interrupted, "**I'll** take care of the cannons, **sir!**" Stimpy saluted, accidently whacking GIR on the back of the head.

"Wait, **Stimpy!** **Stimpy!**" Hogarth and Ren hissed.

Too late. Stimpy was already running down the hall, humming "A Pirate's Life for Me". Hogarth passed a hand over his eyes and sighed.

"Eediot," Ren muttered, following GIR and Hogarth down the hall.

* * *

"This shouldn't be too hard," Stimpy said to himself as he came to the control room, where the cannons and other mechanics were controlled. He walked over to a metal cabinet and opened it. "All I need to do is find one cute little wire and--"

Stimpy stopped and looked on in shock. He saw not one, but many wires in the cabinet; there had to be thousands of wires in here!

"Uh-oh."

* * *

Hogarth, Ren, and GIR snuck cautiously through the hangar, looking for the map and keeping an eye out for any patrolling pirates. Finally, they found the barrel where GIR dropped the map. Hogarth jumped in and snatched the silver ball off of the floor.

"Yes," he murmured with pride.

Suddenly, as if on cue...

**_AH-OOG! AH-OOG!_**

An alarm went off and red lights started flashing everywhere! The trio jumped, then started to run back to the stairs.

* * *

It seems Stimpy pulled a wire that set off that alarm.

"**Oh!**" he cried out, "**Bad** Stimpy! **Bad!** Fixing now!"

He quickly plugged the wire back in. The alarm died down and the lights stopped flashing.

* * *

Hogarth, Ren, and GIR were about to bolt up the stairs and try to escape!

Needless to say, Ren was enraged. "That stupid **cat's** gonna get us all--"

They stopped.

"...Killed..." Ren finished in a dismayed tone.

There, leaning on a beam at the top of the stairs and holding his knife, was Randall Boggs. "Hello, **Hogarth**," he said slyly, "Welcome **back**."

Ren let out an ear-splitting scream before the three turned at lightning speed and ran down the hall! They dodged pipes, wheels, and other such things as they tried to escape the reptilian monster. But Randall was gifted with the feet of a gecko, so he was able to climb on the walls and ceiling.

Ren looked behind his shoulder. Randall was gaining on them! He screamed again, and GIR, for some unknown reason, suddenly turned around and, running backwards, yelled **"PIIIE!"** before leaning his head forward and opening it, shooting something white at Randall's face.

A custard pie?

As you might've guessed, Randall wasn't fond of being treated like a joke. He angrily wiped the pie off before smacking GIR **and** Ren aside. GIR collided with a wall and went offline, the lights in his eyes going out, while Ren flew into the opening of a pipe. **Clang!**

"Ohhh **CRAAAAAP!"** He cried as he got sucked into the pipe. He started running into turns in the piping, and of course that hurt! "Ow! Oh! Gah! Eee! Ow! Ow! Ooh!"

Now that Ren and GIR were out of the way, Randall was able to get his hands on Hogarth and eliminate him!

The boy skidded to a stop, then ran around a corner. He slammed his back against the wall, panting and readying his BB pistol. He paused, waiting for the right moment to strike, then turned the corner, pointing the pistol at Randall's scaly, surprised face!

Unfortunately, everything suddenly got dark. The lights went out.

* * *

It seems Stimpy pulled a wire that controlled the lights. **"Whoops!"** the fat cat yelped, "OK, don't-- don't panic. You can **do** this. You're a **cat;** you can **see** in the **dark.**"

* * *

A second later, the lights were on again...but to Hogarth's shock, Randall had disappeared! He spun around, holding his BB pistol in front of him. The monster wasn't there, either.

As you can imagine, Hogarth was now feeling uneasy. Little did he know, Randall was now clinging to the ceiling. He was winding up for a pounce, and...

Suddenly, Ren popped out of a pipe next to the reptile's head. At first, the chihuahua was a little dazed, but then he noticed that Randall had noticed him. Ren let out one of his trademark screams and punched Randall in the face before getting sucked back through the pipe.

Randall grunted in pain, catching Hogarth's attention. Randall smacked the former doctor's assistant across the face, causing the boy to fall over and drop his BB pistol. Randall jumped on Hogarth and the two started fighting.

Not too far off, GIR was still lying motionless, eyes lightless. Suddenly, his eyes lit up again, only they were a brilliant red instead of the usual green. The eyes narrowed, too...

Hogarth kicked Randall off and started scrambling towards his gun, but Randall recovered quickly and tossed his knife into the air.

It landed blade-first on Hogarth's gun, splitting it in two.

**"NO!"** Hogarth cried out.

"Hohoho, **yeah,**" Randall chuckled, walking over and picking up his knife, "Be sure to say 'Hello' to **Mud** for me, huh?" But just when he was about to bring his knife down into Hogarth...

**BOOM!**

Randall was suddenly sent flying! Hogarth looked up and saw GIR, only he didn't look quite the same. Instead of being the fun-loving, childish green-eyed robot he usually was, right now his eyes were narrowed and glowing red, and above his head was what looked like a missile launcher that stuck out of his back. Hogarth looked behind him and saw that Randall was rammed by a pair of small missiles, and they were flying him-- **CRASH!** --through a wall and over the sea! They also made him drop his knife into the water. Hogarth ducked to avoid the giant splinters.

**"I HATE YOOOOUUUuuuuu...!"** Randall screamed as he was sent flying into the distance. He flew to the point where neither Hogarth nor GIR could see or hear him.

Hogarth turned to his little robot companion, who then reverted back to his normal self, his eyes turning green once again and the missile launcher somehow cramming itself back into GIR's back.

Hogarth smiled. "Thanks, GIR."

GIR smiled back. **"Meow!"**

**Clang CLANG _CLANG!_**

Suddenly, a black, child-sized object fell out of a nearby pipe opening and landed-- **Plop!** --on the floor. It was Ren, covered head-to-toe in soot! He coughed out a fair amount of the substance before getting on all fours and shaking all the soot off.

"And **that's** why-- **COUGH!** --I chose to be a **navigator** and not a-- **COUGH!** --a **chimney-sweep!**" Ren spluttered.

Hogarth had to stifle a laugh.

Then Stimpy came in, covered in wires and quite dizzy! "Cannons disconnected, Captain Hogarth, sir! Boy, **that** wasn't so **tough!**"

"Great," Hogarth murmured, pulling out the map, "All we need to do now is toss the cannonballs overboard, and we're done."

Little did any of them know, but there was an unpleasant surprise waiting for them back on Treasure Island...


	17. The Discovery

**_NOTICE! _I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters.**

_Author's note: I suppose I should apologize **again.** I kinda like to take my time with my fanfiction. Please remember that. Then again, getting no feedback kinda takes the fun out of writing fanfiction. I'll try to see this through though. Please read and review. PLEASE! :(_

Soon, Hogarth, GIR, Ren, and Stimpy made it back onto the island. Hogarth and GIR popped up through the back door with map in hand and ran over to a pair of small silhouettes, lying against a rock (in the shadows) that happened to be in the room.

"Chopper!" Hogarth exclaimed with a smile, running over to the silhouettes, "Chopper, wake up! I got the **map!**" But when he reached his friends, his smile dissipated.

Chopper and Midna were bound and gagged, and obviously struggling to escape.

A large, plump figure loomed out from behind the rock the hostages were leaning against. "Fine **work,** Hogarth," Jumba growled, snatching the map, "Fine work, indeed."

Hogarth looked around. The other pirates walked out of the shadows. "Thanks for showing us the way in, **boy!**" Mr. Turnbuckle remarked, grabbing one of Hogarth's arms. Wapol grabbed the other.

"Hey," Ren asked, pulling himself up and out of the door, "What's going--" But then he stopped and his eyes bulged out. The pirates had gone through his stuff! And they wrecked it!

He stared at a pile of broken records, and what looked like shattered bones, all scattered around the inside of the hiding place. "My **records!** My **dinosaur fossils!**" he shouted, trembling with rage, **"Shattered to pieces!"** His eyes twitched involuntarily when he noticed something else: several jars lying open, near Stimpy's litter box. "M-My collection of rare, incurable **diseases!** **Violated!**" Ren trembled even more, then...

**_"AAAAH!_ You _IDIOTS!"_** Ren screamed, bounding toward Wapol with his sharp teeth bared.

**CHOMP!**

Wapol shouted in pain. After getting his butt bitten by Ren, he wasn't gonna be sitting down for a while. Another pirate managed to kick the chihuahua into the wall. Ren was stunned for the moment, giving the buckaneers a chance to tie him up.

_"What's this sorry waste of fur!?"_ Salacious asked in his alien tongue, pulling Stimpy out of the back door and holding a knife up to where the cat's neck would've been.

Poor Stimpy was scared out of his skin. "**N-Not the face!**"

Jumba walked toward Hogarth, smirking and tossing the map to himself. "You are just like myself, Hogarth," the alien captain taunted, "You hate to lose."

Hogarth could only scowl at Jumba.

The alien chuckled and tried to open the map. I say "tried" because he tried to open it with force, trying to twist it in half, but to no avail. "What in the **galaxy**--" he muttered, then looked at Hogarth.

The boy smirked and shook his head. Jumba was doing it wrong.

Jumba handed the map to Hogarth. "**Open it,**" he ordered.

Hogarth glared at Jumba for a few seconds before the alien pulled out his plasma cannon. "I would get **busy.**"

Hogarth looked over at Midna and Chopper, who shook their heads vigorously. The boy was definitely between a rock and a hard place. If he did what Jumba asked, the pirates would have the treasure, but if he didn't do it, his friends were dead.

Hesitantly, Hogarth pressed the buttons on the map and opened it. A hologram of the island they were on, Treasure Island, appeared in the air before them.

"Oh..." Jumba breathed, "Would you _look?_"

The hologram dissipated and turned into a line leading out of the hideout and curving to the left outside of the entrance. It was a trail!

Jumba cackled, then glared back at Hogarth. "Tie him up," he ordered, "and leave him with the others 'til we--"

But before Jumba could finish, the holographic trail dissipated and the bits disappeared...back into the map.

Hogarth looked down at the silver orb, then glared at Jumba. "You want the map? You're taking **me,** too."

Jumba glared at him, then grinned and chuckled. This boy was smart, he had to give him that. "We'll take them all."

* * *

The pirates and their captors were now traveling through the jungle, following the holographic trail, which blinked faster and faster as they got closer to the legendary Roger's Trove.

Chopper and Midna were bound together with ropes, back to back. Ren was also tied up, and one of the pirates put a raingate-like muzzle on him. Hogarth, GIR, and Stimpy weren't a threat, so they were left unbound.

As they walked, GIR looked up at Hogarth sadly. "Hogarth? This isn't **fun** anymore."

Hogarth gave the little robot a reassuring pat on the head. "It's OK, little buddy. We'll get through this."

Then Ren spoke up, though with a muzzle impeding the movement of his jaws, it was difficult. "Hogarth, I --_gulp_-- I-I'm seeing my life flashing before my eyes! At least, I **think** it's my life. **WAS I EVER DANCING WITH A DACHSUND NAMED WILFRED!?"**

**"Ren!"** Hogarth hissed, "Shh! This isn't over yet."

A second after Hogarth said that, Jumba noticed the trail blinking erratically. "We're getting **close,** gentlemen!" he stated excitedly, pulling out his machette, "I smell **treasure** waiting for us!"

Well, Jumba chopped through the foliage with the knife, and sure enough, waiting for them at the end of the trail was a massive hoard of...

Nothing.

They were overlooking a cliff. There wasn't even anything at the bottom of the cliff.

Everyone was thoroughly perplexed.

"Where is it?" asked a pirate.

"I see **nothing!**" snapped Hammer Bro, "One great big stinkin' pile o' **NOTHING!**"

The trail was sucked back into the map, again confusing everyone.

"What is going **on,** Hogarth?" Jumba demanded.

"I don't **know!**" Hogarth said, pushing the buttons and trying to pry the silver ball open again, but... "I-I **can't** get it **open!**"

"_We should never have followed this boy!_" shouted Salacious, pouncing on Hogarth's back and jumping off, sending the boy sprawling.

When Hogarth hit the ground, he noticed how hard it was. Like the ground was made of metal.

When Hogarth lifted his head, he found something else: a small hole in the ground. He brushed aside the surrounding grass...

Yes, indeed. The ground **was** made of metal. Not soil! What was this?

Hogarth looked at the map, discovering that it could fit in the hole. The hole even had the same marks.

The pirates were getting closer, spouting threats like:

"Let's tear his guts right out, **right now**!"

"_Throw him over the cliff!_"

Hogarth placed the map in the hole...

The map's markings, and markings surrounding the hole, suddenly glowed! There were even markings glowing through the grass on the rest of the cliff!

The hole and the map were then surrounded by several glowing circles, and a small, holographic globe of the Earth rose up with a holographic line connecting to each surrounding circle.

Then, in the valley that the cliff was over, larger holographic lines rushed to the cliff, joined at the bottom, rose up as one big vertical line at the front of the cliff...

...and the line split apart, turning into a triangle that showed a view of a swamp with a long-necked dinosaur standing in it! It turned its head to the people on the cliff, then returned to its grazing.

Everyone stared in awe.

"Oh, have mercy," Jumba breathed.

"Th-- The **Congo** of **Africa**!?" Hogarth observed, quite alarmed. He'd heard of Mokele-Mbembe, the creature said to live in that area's swamps, but he never thought he'd actually get to see it!

"But that-- That's on the other side of the **planet!**" Jumba said.

Hogarth looked down at the holographic Earth. "A big door," he muttered, recalling Ren and Stimpy's words, "Opening and closing." He touched the other areas, making the triangle before them show different scenery from different countries and islands.

Hogarth had an idea what this may have been, but he needed to be sure.

"Let's see," he muttered, his eyes scanning the holographic globe, "...Korea..." He then smiled when he found what he was looking for. "The Japanese Seaport."

When he put his finger on said part of Japan, the lines closed together and reopened to reveal the Seaport. Boats, seabirds, and every citizen and official in the port could be seen.

"So **that's** how Roger did it," Hogarth realized, "He'd use this...**portal** to--to roam the planet stealing **treasure!**"

**"But where did he stash it all!?"** Jumba demanded, shoving Hogarth aside and placing a pudgy finger on random areas of the world, "Where...is that...**blasted treasure!?**"

Ren and Stimpy perked up when Jumba mentioned treasure. "Th-- The **treasure!**" Ren exclaimed, clutching his skull and trying to remember, "The treasure... It's...**buried in the**--!"

Hogarth then remembered another thing Ren and Stimpy told him. "Buried in the center of the machine... Hey, what if this island **is** the **machine**, and the **treasure's** buried in the center of this **island!?**"

When the pirates heard this, they immediately started to dig into the earth. Unfortunately, they only managed to remove some of the grass and reveal the metal beneath. Not even a pickaxe could break this.

**"Then how are we supposed to GET there!?"** Jumba demanded angrily.

"Just open the right door," Hogarth answered, and he touched the holographic Treasure Island...

The door closed, and opened again to reveal **a veritable mountain of treasure!** Gold, silver, jewels, every valuable thing you could ever imagine, and then some, was all together in one pile!

Hogarth stepped through the door first, but Jumba shoved past him, and the others followed (except for Wapol, Chopper, and Midna, who stayed behind), unknowingly stepping through a red laser line...

At first, everyone stared at the treasure with wide eyes, then...

**"YES! AHAHAHAHA!"**

This is what the pirates cheered, and they ran onto the pile, grabbing whatever they could fit in their pockets (if they had any)!

"The Loot of a Thousand Lands..." Jumba murmured in awe, smiling broadly.

"We're gonna need a **bigger boat!**" Hammer Bro laughed.

Yes, indeed. Gold Roger had the help of some excellent technicians to keep all of his treasure in one place. All of his treasure was gathered into the shape and size of a very small planet! The treasure was now the right shape to serve as the core of the island. There were lasers mounted on the surrounding walls, shooting into large holes in the "core" that was the treasure. The treasure was stuck to a strange machine that had its own gravitational pull. The lasers were keeping the machine afloat.

All of the treasure that was pulled to this machine-within-the-machine was now in the pirates' hands.

...or was it?


	18. The Treasure

**_NOTICE! _I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters.**

They had finally found it: Gold Roger's Loot of a Thousand Lands. Hogarth stood with the pirates, Ren, Stimpy, and GIR, staring at the globe of treasure they were standing on!

Unfortunately, the pirates wouldn't let Hogarth take any for himself. This he was sure of.

Ren and Stimpy both felt like they recognized all this, somehow. "This is all seeming...very familiar," Stimpy muttered, "I-I can't remember why..."

"Me neither," Ren growled, frustrated that he couldn't remember if this was important or not.

Hogarth, meanwhile, noticed a frigate sitting atop one mound of the treasure. He glanced at Jumba, who was too enthralled with the treasure around him to notice Hogarth or his friends.

Hogarth nudged Stimpy and walked toward the ship, with GIR following. "Guys," he whispered, "c'mon. We're getting out of here, and we're **not** leaving empty-handed."

Ren and Stimpy looked at each other, then followed Hogarth whispering along the lines of, "Wait a minute! Hogarth!"

* * *

Jumba, meanwhile, knelt into the gold coins that made up a vast majority of the Loot. "A lifetime of searching," he murmured in awe and excitement, clutching two handfuls of coins, "and at long last..." Here, a wide grin broke out on the alien's face. "...I can **touch** it!"

* * *

"You know what's strange, Stimpy?" Ren asked his feline friend as they climbed onto the ship with Hogarth and GIR, "There's something bad, I just know...something bad happened here, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was."

"I can't remember either, Ren," Stimpy replied, "That's really frustrating!"

Ren glared at Stimpy. "No crap, Sherlock." By that time, he'd reached the portside of the ship and, as Hogarth was helping him on, he happened to glance over the boy's shoulder...

**"AAAH!"** he screamed, falling onto the deck.

Hogarth saw it, too, staring with wide eyes.

Stimpy was pulled up by GIR. "What's up, Ren--?" At that point, Stimpy saw why Ren had screamed, and he gasped.

GIR stared at it, too, but being the "genius" robot he was, he didn't understand it.

"...Gold Roger!?" Hogarth breathed.

Ren shot up. "**In the flesh!** ...Well, except for skin, organs, or any of the other things that count as flesh. Those aren't there..."

Sure enough, Gold Roger's skeleton was right there, sitting in what seemed like a throne. He was wearing a proud-looking crimson coat with gold trim, and his tri-peaked hat sat on his head as it did in life.

"Something just struck me, Ren," Stimpy told his canine friend, "Remember that guy in Roger's crew that had the temper--what was his name?"

"...Klaus," Ren reminded Stimpy, "Yeah, Orimez Klaus wanted us to keep something secret, and it was something horrible, and I still can't remember it! Can you?"

Stimpy hung his head in shame. "No..."

Ren's eyes welled up. **"A mind is a terrible thing to lose!"** he wailed, leaning his head into Stimpy's bloated belly. The fat cat sympathetically patted his friend on the back.

As Ren and Stimpy were talking, Hogarth noticed the remains of someone else. There was another skeleton lying near Roger's seat, and it was holding something in its hand. Hogarth pulled the object out of the skeleton's bony grasp.

It was a book, and Hogarth then remembered Ren and Stimpy talking about a book. A log...

Hogarth opened the book. Sure enough, the entries were, he could tell, written by Ren and Stimpy!

He turned to his (currently weeping) animal friends. "Guys, is this yours?"

Ren and Stimpy slowly turned to Hogarth...and shared a humongous take when they saw the book he was holding!

"Th-Th-The--!" Ren stuttered.

"**THE LOG!**" Stimpy exclaimed in utter joy, bounding at the book and grabbing it out of Hogarth's hand!

Ren ran after Stimpy and they both opened their log. "It's all here!" Ren said excitedly, "All our memories with Gold Roger's crew!"

"Uh-oh..." Stimpy murmured, his smile disappearing.

"What?" Ren asked. But then he saw what. "Oh, God, that's right! We were forced to help Klaus rig that **booby trap!**"

**BOOM! CLANK!**

Everyone heard these noises above their heads.

"Speak of the devil," Ren whimpered, fearfully looking up with Stimpy.

Everyone else looked up out of confusion. What was that noise?

There were explosions going off in the laser cannons on the ceiling/wall(s).

"Klaus wanted the treasure all for himself," Ren explained, "so he murdered Gold Roger, and then forced us to help him to rig this whole island to blow **HIGHER THAN A KITE!**"

Finally, one of the cannons fell and smashed into the gold-covered core, causing it to crack. One of the lasers went off course, and moved towards the pirates. Of course they ran away, abandoning all thoughts of treasure for the instinct to preserve themselves.

"Run, Hogarth!" Stimpy pressured Hogarth, "Run for your **LIFE!**"

"You and Ren go back and help the captain and Chopper!" Hogarth responded, ducking under the ship's control panel, "If I'm not there in five minutes, leave without me."

"You heard the kid!" Ren said to Stimpy, "Let's **move!**"

"I am **not** leaving my pal Hogarth!" Stimpy insisted, pulling Hogarth out by his feet from under the control panel.

Hogarth glared at Stimpy; he was in the middle of hotwiring the ship, as evidenced by the two cables he was holding together.

"...Unless he looks at me like that," Stimpy said, grinning nervously. He then dropped Hogarth's feet with a "Bye, Hogarth!" and he and Ren dashed toward the Door that led to the surface of the island.

Meanwhile, the lasers were making the cracks in the core wider, and all the treasure was falling in, much to Jumba's dismay!

"**No! No! No! No!**" he kept screaming, trying to grab whatever coins he could. This was definitely not supposed to happen. Fortunately, he was standing high enough above the falling treasure to avoid falling in.

Any other pirates that tried to get whatever treasure **they** could weren't so lucky; they fell into the core (which, by the way, was hot enough to burn anyone who got close enough to a crisp). Among those that died here was Mr. Turnbuckle.

When Jumba saw several of the pirates running towards the Door, he shouted at them, "Come back here, you quitters!" At that point, he noticed Gold Roger's old ship getting fired up.

He whipped out his Quadroculars, and through them, he saw that Hogarth was the one firing it up! He also saw lots of treasure onboard the ship.

Jumba grinned. He had two thoughts going through his mind: _What a clever boy,_ and _Yes, a way out!_

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the surface of the island, Chopper and Midna were sitting in one of the floating boats, bound and under the watchful patrol of Wapol. Midna was bound with some strange rope that impeded her Twilit abilities, and Chopper was restrained with Sea Stone Cuffs.

They all heard the muffled explosions that were coming from underground.

Chopper let out a dismayed sigh. "I only wanted to prove I could be useful...but I couldn't... I just wish I'd been more helpful to you, Captain Midna."

Midna looked back at the young reindeer, giving him a reassuring smile. "_Don't be dumb. You were a great help. I mean it._"

"But I still feel so useless." Chopper's eyes started to well up. "I think I'm gonna be sick," he muttered, clutching his stomach.

Suddenly, he realized something: How was he able to clutch his stomach if his hooves were cuffed behind his back, and with Sea Stone Cuffs!?

Chopper looked at his hooves. Indeed, there was the pair of cuffs, but it was dangling from only one of his arms!

The problem was obvious: His arms were too small for the cuffs!

Chopper could see a lightbulb flickering on in his mind. He had an idea.

Quickly, he hid his hooves behind his back, taking off the cuffs as quietly as he could, then he shouted, "Wapol!"

The former Tin Tyrant turned to Chopper. "Huh?"

"If you think you and the other pirates are getting their hands on that treasure," he said angrily, "if you think you can burn down the home of innocent people like Hogarth's family and get away with it, you're dead wrong!" He glared at Wapol. "You're gonna pay now. Luffy beat you once before, and if he could, **then so can I!**"

Wapol was now pissed. He stomped over to Chopper and grabbed him by the neck. "That's it! I'm gonna eat you alive!" The metal-jawed pirate smirked. "I've always wanted to eat raw venison."

"You won't get the chance," Chopper said, then suddenly went into Heavy Point and punched Wapol across the face! The pirate stumbled back, quite stunned from the punch (as well as the fact that Chopper shifted his shape when it was thought he couldn't).

Chopper quickly untied the ropes binding Midna, and they both glared at Wapol, who could only look back nervously. He knew he was in trouble.

* * *

Back in the core, Hogarth finally got the engines working again, and all the treasure that wasn't on that ship was molten in the core.

Hogarth grinned as he turned the boat towards the . "**YES!** GIR, we are so outta here!"

GIR cackled happily in response.

"Ah, Hogarth!"

Hogarth and GIR whipped around. There, climbing onto the boat, was Jumba. "Aren't you the Seventh Wonder of the World?" he laughed.

Thinking quickly, Hogarth grabbed a nearby cutlass and pointed it at Jumba. **"Get. Back."** he growled.

The alien halted and looked down at the sword. Then, slowly, he lifted his great head, glaring at the boy. "I like you well, Hogarth," he rumbled, "but I've come too far to let you stand between me and my treasure." As he said this, he started walking toward Hogarth, forcing the boy to back away slowly until his back was against the ship steering "wheel".

Suddenly, a huge beam hit one side of the ship, sending Hogarth, GIR, and Jumba overboard! Jumba was able to grab onto the side of the ship, one foot landing on a small platform nearby. GIR clinged to Jumba's back until he could climb down to the platform.

But the little robot saw something that frightened him: Hogarth wasn't as lucky as the other two!

No, he fell down a chasm and ended up grabbing onto a symbol-shaped protrusion that was slowly pulling itself back into the wall!

What was more, as Jumba held onto the ship, the same laser that knocked everyone overboard was destroying the ship and the treasure on it!

Jumba's eyes widened. "Oh, no, you don't!" he exclaimed with determination, and he started pulling the ship away from the laser.

"**MASTER! MASTER!**" GIR suddenly screamed, frantically pointing into the nearby chasm.

"What?" Jumba asked. Then he saw what: Hogarth was about to fall!

"Hogarth!" Jumba gasped. He then glanced back at the ship full of treasure and grabbed it tighter with one hand. He turned and used the other hand to reach for his young human assistant. "Reach for me, boy!" he shouted, "**REACH!**"

Hogarth tried very hard to grab Jumba's hand, but he had to admit it...

"I-**I CAN'T!**"

The protrusion disappeared and Hogarth fell again, but he was able to grab onto another protrusion. Unfortunately, this one was pulling itself in, too.

Now Jumba was in a desperate situation. He glanced back and forth between the treasure on the ship and the boy in the chasm. If he let go of the ship and the treasure, he'd be giving up his life-long dream, but he couldn't leave Hogarth to die!

Finally, Jumba exclaimed,"Ohh, I'm such a **FOOL!**" and let go of the ship to rush over and grab Hogarth!

He swung his young friend up onto the platform, then climbed up himself. They both looked up, to find the ship full of treasure blow up thanks to the laser.

They then spotted a way to the Door that lead to the surface. Hogarth Hughes, Dr. Jumba Jookiba, and GIR ran as fast as they could to the Door and out onto the surface...


	19. The Escape

**_NOTICE! _I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters.**

Hogarth, Jumba, and GIR all dashed out through the door that lead to the core of Treasure Island. Once they did, Hogarth looked over at Jumba, impressed. "Jumba, you gave up!?"

Jumba started wiping tears from his four eyes. "Just a lifelong obsession, Hogarth," Jumba answered, "I'll get over it!"

GIR smiled broadly and gave his master a great hug.

"ALOHA, FELLAS!"

This was heard along with...rockets? Hogarth, Jumba, and GIR looked up, and to their surprise, there was the JPH Wonderlust floating above their heads with the use of rockets! Stimpy was waving to them, smiling as always.

His smile disappeared when he gave them this announcement. "Hurry! We've only got a few minutes until the island **blows up!**"

Hogarth and Jumba looked at each other wide-eyed.

Chopper was at the ship's wheel, and he'd gone into Heavy Point to operate. Of course, seeing as the island was blowing up, he was understandably frightened, and it's hard to concentrate when you're frightened.

Midna was leaning against a mast behind him, her wounds bandaged. "_Alright, you're doing fine, Chopper. Just ease her over gently-- GENTLY!_"

But since Chopper was so nervous, he accidentally bumped the ship into a nearby cliff. This, of course, rocked the boat. Nevertheless, Hogarth, Jumba, and GIR managed to climb aboard just fine.

* * *

Below deck were all the pirates that escaped the core. They were all bound with ropes and struggling to escape. Among these pirates was Salacious, Bowser, Koopa Kid, Hammer Bro, and Wapol. Wapol was bound with Sea Stone rope, so his powers were useless, and Bowser and Koopa Kid were gagged with pieces of special fire-proof cloth.

"Wreck **my** stuff, will ya?"

The pirates glanced in the direction of the voice. It was Ren...and Ren was **livid**.

"Trash **me** and **Stimpy's** hiding place, huh?" he asked, trembling with rage, "And to top it off, you muzzled me! **MUZZLED me!**" A psychotic grin crept onto his face, and he started speaking in a slow, eerie tone. "I've gotta **great** temptation to gouge your eyes out... Yeah... I think I will...and then...I'm gonna...t-t-t**-TEAR** your limbs outta the sockets!" He suddenly went into a fit of maniacal laughter mixed with growls and sobs.

Needless to say, all the pirates were rather disturbed by this.

"...No," Ren said finally, "I'll let the judge take care of **you**. **He** knows what to do... Don't you go anywhere!" he then said, wagging his finger at the pirates, then he pointed at the floor. "You stay right here... Right on this spot! I'll be back!" He then dashed up the stairs, leaving the pirates alone again.

"We were better off on the exploding island!" Hammer Bro exclaimed.

* * *

"_Get us out of here, fat cat!_" Midna ordered Stimpy.

The Cornish Rex cat saluted sternly, then pulled on a lever that sent the Wonderlust rocketing forward. Now the island was falling apart, huge chunks of it seperating from each other and explosions bursting out of the cracks.

Jumba was very pleased with Midna. "Captain, you dropped from the heavens just in--"

"_Save your words for the judge, Jookiba!_" Midna snapped. She hadn't forgotten about Jumba's...transgressions.

Jumba chuckled nervously, glancing at GIR. Hogarth seemed just as uneasy.

All of a sudden, a large piece of debris flew out and snapped off the top sail of the ship! A piece of mast fell onto a mechanical part of the ship and broke it. The rockets started to falter.

Ren had already gotten up on deck by this time. He looked at the readings on the "dash board" of the ship. "Missile tail demobilized, Captain! Thrusters at only 30% of capacity."

"30 percent?" Chopper echoed.

Midna's eyes widened. "_We'll never clear the island's explosion in time._"

Hogarth ran over to the side of the ship and saw that the gate was still open. Then he turned around and looked at the machinery that was broken by the fallen mast. The gears in his head started turning again...

"...We gotta turn around," Hogarth said before jumping down to the main deck.

"_What!?_" Midna exclaimed.

"There's a portal back there!" the boy explained, "It can get us outta here!"

"Uh, Hogarth?" Chopper asked, "Didn't that portal open onto a **raging inferno!?**"

"Yes," Hogarth answered, pulling up a thick, triangular sheet of metal, "but I'm gonna change that. I'm gonna open a different door!"

Jumba looked over at the portal, and then realized that the small hologram that opened it was still there and functional...

"But how!?" Chopper stuttered, "How is Hogarth gonna--"

"Listen to the boy!" Jumba yelled up to Chopper and Midna as he walked down to the main deck.

"One minute, twenty-nine seconds 'till island's destruction!" Ren called.

Hogarth was having a bit of trouble. Apparently, he was trying to build something.

"What is it you need, Hogarth?" Jumba asked.

"Just...some way to...attach this!" Hogarth replied. He was trying to attach a still semi-active rocket to the triangular metal sheet.

"All right," Jumba said, pulling out a welder, "Stand back-- Stand back, now!" In a matter of seconds, the job was done. "There you go."

Jumba caught on to what Hogarth had in mind: he just made a makeshift Rocketboard! The two (and GIR) hefted the thing onto the edge of the ship.

Hogarth jumped onto it. "OK. Now, no matter what happens," he instructed his old alien friend, "keep the ship heading straight for that portal."

"Fifty-eight seconds!" Ren called.

Hogarth and Jumba glanced at each other one last time, before Hogarth stomped down on a switch attached to the rocket and he went flying away.

Jumba turned to Chopper and Midna. "Well, you heard him! Get this flying pile of lumber and scrap metal turned around!"

Midna raised an eyebrow before telling the reindeer doctor, "_Chopper, head us back to the portal._"

"...Aye, captain," Chopper answered, turning the wheel and the ship.

Hogarth was doing well. He was weaving in and out of the explosions. If the rocket died down, he'd step on the switch to get it going again.

The ship wasn't quite so manueverable.

"_Go to the right! **The right!**_" Midna yelled.

Chopper snapped a bit. "**I know, I know! Will you just let me DRIVE!?**"

"**Twenty-five seconds!**" Ren shouted. He and Stimpy were getting increasingly worried.

Suddenly, the makeshift Rocketboard died again. But when Hogarth stepped on the switch, it didn't go!

"No! NO! **NO!**" he shouted as he started to plummet towards the explosions below.

Jumba was watching, and now he was frightened. "Come on, boy..." he murmured through gritted teeth.

"**SEVENTEEN SECONDS!**" Ren screamed.

GIR covered his eyes. He didn't want to see his friend die!

Suddenly, Hogarth got another bright idea. He turned his Rocketboard around and ground the rocket against a nearby rock wall.

**BOOM!** It shot upwards! Hogarth saw the ship pass by him above, and sped out of the chasm as fast as he could.

Chopper gritted his teeth and prepared for the worst, and Ren counted down. "Seven...

"Six...

"Five...

"**Four...**

"**Three...**

"**TWO...**"

Hogarth passed the ship, and pressed an island on the hologram...

* * *

Out at sea, it was calm and quiet. A distance away, the Japanese Seaport could be seen.

Suddenly, a green, holographic triangle appeared, and through it came the JPH Wonderlust, a huge explosion, and Hogarth on his makeshift Rocketboard!

They were saved!

As the portal closed, Hogarth and everyone on the ship could be heard cheering! The rockets on the Wonderlust now sped them through the water, and Hogarth was riding through the air wildly on his Rocketboard!

"**WA-HOW! YEAH!**" he cheered.

"**You did it, Hogarth!**" Jumba called, giving his young human friend a high-five as the boy flew over the ship, "**You've done it, boy! Ha ha ha!**"

GIR was whooping and yelling and fireworks were literally flying out of his head! Even the bound pirates below deck were cheering.

Jumba looked through the grate at them. "Didn't I say Hogarth was a great human!?"

Chopper and Midna even hugged, they were so happy to be alive!

Hogarth jumped off of the Rocketboard (letting it fall into the sea) and onto the ship. GIR ran up and hugged him tightly.

Chopper and Midna ran over to the boy. Chopper had gone back into Brain Point, and jumped up and hugged him, tears flowing from his eyes.

Midna smiled. "_Not subtle,_" she said, regarding Hogarth's plan, "_but really effective! I'd be proud to recommend you to international academy. They could use someone like you._"

Jumba stood a distance away, smiling proudly at Hogarth. GIR ran over to him, also smiling.

"Just wait'll your family hears about this!" Chopper exclaimed. Then he had a thought. "Oh, but we might downplay the life-threatening parts."

Hogarth chuckled, nodding in agreement. Chopper then jumped off to rejoin Midna. The two of them had become very good friends.

Speaking of good friends, Ren and Stimpy then walked over to Hogarth. Ren seemed a bit awkward, probably trying to seem like a stoic.

"Hogarth," Stimpy said, bobbing up and down ecstatically, "that was...**UNFORGETTABLE!** I-I know you don't like touching, but get ready for a hug, man, 'cause I gotta hug you!" He then pounced on Hogarth and squeezed, giggling like a nut.

Hogarth glanced over at Ren, looked at Stimpy, then grabbed the chihuahua and hugged them both, much to their surprise!

"You-- You hugged Stimpy back, and **me!?**" It was impossible to hide the shock on Ren's face. Then that expression melted into a smiling, teary-eyed one. He sniffed. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry..."

"I didn't," Stimpy said, then started bawling loudly and comically, burying his head into Hogarth's shirt. "Does anyone have a tissue...?"

The boy smiled, then glanced over at where Jumba was standing.

I say **was**, because now he had disappeared. To where?

The Jetboat hangar.

_Author's note: Yes, I know that last part seemed pretty sappy, but I'm trying to keep the characters true to form while still going along with what happens in the movie._


	20. Jumba and Hogarth Say Goodbye

**_NOTICE! _I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters.**

_Man... This story's almost done! Let's see... I'd like to thank anyone who has supported this story just by reading it, and I give more thanks to those that review. Thank you all. Now, without further ado, the chapter._

Jumba was kneeling over a stanchion and trying to untie the rope that was wrapped around it. The rope was anchoring a Jetboat, and the alien doctor was planning on escaping with GIR. He didn't want to confront a judge or jury, and GIR would be miserable behind bars.

"GIR, we have to get going," Jumba reminded his robotic friend.

"I know," GIR said.

"You never quit, do you?"

Jumba started when he heard Hogarth's voice. Feeling uneasy, he turned around with a false smile. "Ah, Hogarth!" he exclaimed, "Heh heh... I was just merely checking to make sure our last Jetboat was safe and...secure." As he was saying this, he tied the rope back onto the stanchion, though not very well.

Hogarth looked at Jumba's handiwork with a studying look. "Well..." he muttered, then kneeled down and corrected the mistakes. "That should hold it," the boy said.

The alien chuckled. "I taught you too well."

Hogarth gave his friend a knowing face.

"Now, if you don't mind," Jumba muttered so no one else could hear, "we'd just as soon avoid prison." He patted GIR's head. "Little GIR here, he-- He's a free spirit. ...Being in a cage would break his heart."

At this, GIR gave Hogarth his best "puppy eyes".

Not that he needed to.

Hogarth grinned, and pulled a lever. This opened the hangar's door, revealing the sea outside (and the ship was now hovering a little above the ocean), and untied the ship's rope.

A huge smile showed up on Jumba's face. "What say you come with us?" he decided to ask, "You and me, Hughes and Jookiba, full of ourselves and no ties to anyone!"

As Jumba was saying this, GIR took a tri-peak hat out of his head and placed it on Hogarth's head.

The boy thought this over, then took the hat off and placed it on GIR's head. "You know," Hogarth said, "when I got on this boat, I would've taken you up on that offer in a second...but, uh...I met this old alien, and he taught me that I could chart my own course."

Jumba's smile, which had disappeared a few seconds earlier, started to reappear.

"That's what I'm gonna do," the boy finished, looking out at the ocean.

"...And what do you think would happen to that...pal of yours?"

"...A future."

The alien chuckled. "Why, look at you, glowing like the sun itself, and then some." Here, his four eyes started to well up. "You're something special, Hogarth. You'll amaze every world out there. I know it."

Hogarth then hugged his friend, Jumba, who acted like a father to him, and the alien didn't hesitate this time to return the embrace. It was clear that the two would miss each other.

"Ahem, uh, I think something flew into my eye," Jumba said as they came apart, and turned around and sniffled.

Hogarth couldn't blame him for crying, 'cause so was he.

GIR looked at his human friend sadly, then started bawling himself.

"Oh, hey, GIR," Hogarth said, kneeling down to the little robot's level, "I'll see you around, OK?"

GIR sniffled. "OK," he said before giving Hogarth a final hug. He then walked over to Jumba, who was watching this a bit sadly.

The alien then had a thought. He kneeled down to GIR level and said seriously, "GIR, I have a job for you. I need you to keep an eye...on Hogarth." Here, Jumba smiled as he glanced at Hogarth.

The boy seemed a bit surprised. Was this for real?

Jumba then looked at GIR pleadingly. "Would you...do me that favor?"

A great big smile broke out on GIR's face, and he saluted his former master. "Aye aye, captain!" He hugged Jumba one last time before running over to Hogarth, who, needless to say, was taken quite by surprise. Of course, he was also delighted.

As Jumba jumped into the Jetboat and got ready to leave, he suddenly said, "Oh! And one more thing! Heh heh... This is for your dear family to rebuild that inn of theirs!" He tossed Hogarth something surprising: gold coins, jewelry, and other valuable trinkets. The little treasure that Jumba managed to get off of Treasure Island!

Hogarth looked down at Jumba, who winked. The boy smiled. "Stay outta trouble...you old scalawag."

"Why, Hogarth!" the alien chuckled, "When have I ever done otherwise?" He then finally sped away in the Jetboat, laughing the whole way, until he could no longer be seen or heard.

Hogarth smiled at GIR, patting the little robot's head.

Thankfully, Midna and Chopper didn't find out that Jumba escaped until it was too late to pursue him.

But in the meantime, Hogarth thought one thing as Jumba left: _Good luck, Jumba...wherever you go._

* * *

_Well, now, that was pretty nice, now wasn't it? (smiles) We're almost done, anyway, so next chapter is the Epilogue. In fact, I may get to work on that right away! See you then, folks!_


	21. Family Reunited, Inn Reborn

**_NOTICE! _I do not own anything in this fanfiction, save for two characters.**

_I still can hardly believe this story's almost over! Once again, I'd like to thank anyone who has supported this story just by reading it, and I give more thanks to those that review. Thank you all. Now, without further ado, the epilogue._

Tatsuo, Yasuko, Satsuki, and Mei Kusakabe walked through the Japanese seaport. They heard the JPH Wonderlust had returned, meaning Hogarth and Chopper were returning as well. Now they were looking for the two.

But they didn't find Hogarth and Chopper; no, Hogarth and Chopper found them! They ran up to them and Hogarth embraced his parents, and Chopper hugged Satsuki and Mei. The reunited family was delightfully surprised.

When GIR popped his head out from behind Hogarth, this was another surprise for the Kusakabes! Of course, the little robot got along well with the Satsuki and Mei, and was welcomed into the family along with Ren and Stimpy, who showed up a bit later (Stimpy more than Ren, of course). Midna promised to visit Chopper, too; a friendship had blossomed between the two.

Soon, the inn was rebuilt, and not just to its former glory. It was bigger and better this time! Its re-opening was celebrated by many that afternoon, and that night, everyone was having a wonderful time!

Ren and Stimpy served as waiters at the restaurant (and they did a surprisingly good job), and Midna came by for a visit, as she promised. The Kusakabes and Chopper invited other friends, too, for this night; Satsuki and Mei invited their old friend Totoro, and Chopper invited his old Straw Hat crew mates; from Captain Monkey D. Luffy to Musician Brook!

Suddenly, in the middle of the party, the door burst open. There stood Chief Quimby and URL, looking serious. Everyone turned to the two officers with worried expressions.

Fortunately, the two smiled, and parted to reveal Hogarth in a fancy white military cadet uniform. He had been welcomed into the academy!

Everyone cheered again, and the Kusakabe family smiled. Quimby shook Hogarth's hand, and URL saluted the boy. Hogarth even got a medal!

As the celebration continued, Hogarth looked out the window, into the night sky, wondering how his friend, Doctor Jumba Jookiba, was doing right now. _Well,_ he thought, _wherever he is, I hope he's having the time of his life._

_

* * *

_

_And the story...is finally over. Wow. Well, folks, it's been fun. If you want to tell me what you thought of the story, please leave a review. If you were disappointed, don't worry; I've got other stories, such as Calvin, the Pirates, and the Homicidal Maniac. The first part is found in the One Piece/Calvin and Hobbes crossover section and is in progress._

_Bye for now, everyone!_


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